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A BRIEF ACCOUIT 



,OF THE EFFORTS OF 

SENATOR COOPER, OF PENNSYLVANIA, 

AND 

CHARLES GIBBONS, AND THEIR ASSOCIATES, 

TO PREVENT THE CONFIRMATION OF 

WILLIAM D. LEWIS, 

COLLECTOR OF THE CUSTOMS FOR THE DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA, 

AS ALSO OF 

TH£IR ATTEMPTS, SINCE HIS CONFIRMATION, TO PROCVRE 
HIS REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. 



v^ 



■li'/i' 



In this "Brief Account," &c., it is not proposed to follow the 
sinuosities of the pamphlet of eighty-one pages, published by Mr. 
Gibbons, purporting to be an answer to the argument of David 
Paul Brown, Esquire ; that argument* having, in fact, been fur- 
nished after Mr. Gibbons had surreptitiously foisted into the pro- 
ceedings of the Commission (then closed) an argument of his own, 
to which Mr. Brown's was in part a reply. 

A detailed exposure of all the misrepresentations and false 
deductions of the pamphlet referred to would transcend all reason- 
able limits. Many of them, indeed, are so palpable as not to 
require any formal refutation. 

The purpose of the writer of this "Account" is to relate a 
plain story in a plain way, and leave the public to decide who tells 
the truth. 

The testimony taken before Commissioner Dunlevy, and its 
accompanying documents, cover four hundred pages of foolscap 
manuscript, all of which are subject to the inspection of any per- 
sons who may desire to examine them. The example of Mr. 
Gibbons, in giving garbled extracts from that testimony and the 
papers annexed to it, no honorable man could follow, and most 
of all while the whole subject is before the President of the 
United States and not yet acted upon. 



See Appendix. 



PREFATORY REMARKS. 



Pursued as I have been, ever since I have held office, 
by weak, maHgnant, and unprincipled enemies, it has 
at length become necessary that I should turn upon 
them. It is true their number is insignificant, but their 
zeal has been untiring. A fragmental faction of a 
great party, envious and disappointed spuits, the posi- 
tion of their leader is all that has ever given the slight- 
est im^Dortance to their movements. The shameless 
course of that individual towards me I have endeavored 
very succintly to exhibit in the annexed statement. The 
step has not been taken without grave deliberation, nor 
has a word been used without a full estimate of its im- 
port and applicability. 

Until now I have been restrained by political con- 
siderations, arising from my official position under a 
Whig Administration and the relative position of the 
person referred to, from making the present exposure. 
But the base alwaj^s find in forbearance fresh motives 
for insult, and hence my hope that, as every previous 
effort to do me injury had redounded to my advantage, 
the maligiiants would grow weary of ill-doing, has not 
been realized. 

So far fi'om this their leader brought recently to the 
notice of the President, in a new shape, and in the 
names of convenient underlings, some of the same false 
and infamous charges which he had preferred against 



me In the Senate, and which he knew had been ab^eady 
exploded, and obtained the appointment of a Com- 
missioner to investigate them. That Commissioner, (A. 
Howard Dunlevy, Esq., an eminent citizen of Ohio,) 
arrived here on the 19th of December, and accompUshed 
his mission on the 28th of January, after twenty-four 
laborious sessions and the examination of seventeen 
witnesses. 

This last attempt to destroy me has proved as inef- 
fectual as the rest. It has convinced me, however, that 
further forbearance on my joart might prejudice my case 
in the opinion of my fellow citizens, and that I owe it 
to myself and the cause of public morals to promulgate 
the facts I am now about giving to the world. It is 
also due to our political institutions that the odious doc- 
trine should be disclaimed and branded with ojDprobrium 
which practically avows that the fact of holding office 
is sufficient to justify the invasion of individual cha- 
racter, and the breaking down of all the safeguards of 
private reputation. At least these wrongs shall never 
be suffered in my person, whatever position he may 
occupy who attempts their perpetration ; nor can any 
considerations of policy defer longer this public defence 
of my honor. 

In order to make perfectly intelligible the following 
pages, it is proper I should say that, after the coun- 
sel who appeared for the nominal complainants had 
closed his case in the recent investigation, it not being 
deemed requisite to call a single witness on my behalf, 
I submitted, as part of the record and proceedings, the 
statement and documents which follow. The narrative 
is given in the form in which it was presented to the 
Commissioner with the exception of the passages in 



brackets, which I was induced, by my able and amiable 
counsel, David Paul Brown, Esq., to omit, but which I 
now remstate as forming j)art of the original context. 

It has seemed to me necessary that I should consign 
to his just place of infamy the person indicated in those 
passages, who, acting from the impulses of malice, 
sharpened by failure to obtain office from either the 
State or National Administration, has been a willing 
instrument in striving to accomplish my destruction, and, 
who, in spite of the efforts of the Whig party to cast 
him off, still clings to it with the malignant tenacity and 
fatal pur^Dose of the sliirt of Nessus ! 

WM. D LEWIS. 

Philadelphia, March, 1851. 



STATEMENT OF WM. D. LEWIS. 



Mr. CojMMissioner, 

Mr. Gibbons acting as Counsel, with what pro- 
priety I shall show hereafter, has in the course of these 
proceedings caused to be entered on the record various 
statements calculated and intended to prejudice me in 
the opinion of the public authorities. He has, at dif- 
ferent stages of the examination of witnesses before you, 
spread upon that record alleged opinions, and made de- 
clarations of his own, which he did not entertain or had 
no right to entertain, and which were destitute of truth, 
averring his ability, if allowed to proceed in his own 
way, and contrary to all the rules of evidence, to prove 
facts asserted by him to my disparagement which he 
well knew could not be proved because they never had 
any existence. 

Those statements having gone upon the record, I 
now ask the privilege, to which I presume that fact to 
entitle me, of also having entered thereon, in my name, 
the whole history of this case from the date of my ap- 
plication for the post I hold to the present day, in order 
that the poison, which Mr. Gibbons has endeavored so 
industriously to diffuse, may carry Avith it on the same 
pages its appropriate antidote in the simple guise of 
truth. 

I submit, therefore, with due deference, for this pur- 
pose, the following Narrative and accompanying Docu- 
ments. 



I would here state that this narrative is submitted not 
so much because I consider it necessary, which it is not, 
as because I deem it in'oper in vmdication of my own 
character against wanton and unmerited aspersion, A 
man's reputation is not only his oavti, it belongs also 
to his family and friends, and he is recreant to his per- 
sonal and his social duties if he should fail to maintain 
it at'all hazards. In addition to this the present course 
is rendered especially proj^er in my case in vindication 
of that authority under which I hold an honorable office. 



NARRATIVE. 

Soon after the election of General Taylor to the Pre- 
sidency I received assurances, from some eminent mer- 
cantile friends, that, if I should apply for the Collector- 
ship of this District, they would give me their earnest 
support. 

On the 3d of March, 1849, a letter was addressed to 
the President in my behalf, of which a copy is annexed 
marked A., and on the 28th of March, 1849, was ad- 
dressed to him another letter, a copy of wliich is like- 
wise annexed marked B. The latter it will be 
seen related to my connection with the Gu'ard Bank, 
which had been mentioned to the President in a 
manner calculated to prejudice him against me. 
Copies of the letters addressed to me, also dated March 
28th, 1849, by the Honorable Jolm K. Kane, and 
Henry Horn on the same subject, and forwarded to the 
President at the same time, are likewise hereto annexed 
marked C. & D. After a careful examination, by him, 



of these papers and of the whole subject, the innate 
love of justice which characterized the great and good 
man then at the head of our Government, and of whom 
the nation has since been bereaved, revolted at the de- 
ception concerning me which had been practised upon 
him, and the reaction natural to an honorable mind, 
when disabused, occurred in my favor. 

There were several other aj)plicants of the highest 
respectability for the place, but the honor of the ap- 
pointment, under the circumstances I have related, was 
conferred upon me. This took place on the 9th of 
May, 1849. On the following day two letters were 
written to me, by Senator Cooper of this State, dated at 
Pottsville, and subsequently other letters, either to me 
or to some mutual friend for my information, all showing 
much anxiety respecting numerous aj^pointments which 
he urged me to make, and most particularly in refer- 
ence to George Read, whom he wished to be Weigher. 
Several of these letters, viz., two of the lOtli of May, 
one of the 30th of May, and one of the 6th of June, 
1849, addressed to me, one of the 24th of May, 1849, 
to Francis N. Buck, Esq., and an attested copy of one 
of the 23d of June, 1849, to George J. Weaver, Esq., 
are hereto annexed marked E. F. G. H. I. J., as also a 
copy of my letter to Mr. Cooper, dated 30th of May, 
1849, announcing to him j\ir. Read's and Mr. Schrei- 
ner's appointment, marked K. 

Ere long it became obvious that if all Mr. Cooper's 
demands for places for his friends were not comphed 
with, I should have to encounter his hostility when 
my name should come before the Senate. Eleven per- 
sons had been specifically and earnestly pressed upon 
me by him for positions of the highest emoluments. Of 



9 

nine places in the Customs here of $1,500 each, he 
asked " two or three ;" of six places of $1,200, he asked 
"one or two;" the rest might he of from $800 to 
$1,100 annual salary. Neither did it escape my ohser- 
vation that four of the persons on the list of his special 
recommendations had, as members of the Legislature, 
voted for him when he was elected United States 
Senator. 

It being impossible to yield all that Mr. Cooper re- 
quired, and the more so as he was then in open or 
quasi hostility to both the State and National Adminis- 
trations, although both w^ere in the hands of the party 
to which he professed to belong, it remained for me, 
anxious as I was to harmonize all mterests, to select for 
the few appointments which it was in my power to give 
him, those persons in whom he seemed to feel the 
greatest interest. That George Read was the man 
nearest his heart, has, I think, been amply proved in 
the course of this investigation, and of the others re- 
commended by him, Henry J. Schreiner and George 
T. Thorn were believed by me, from his own assurances, 
to be the next in his affections. They were accordingly 
nominated by me for places, and those nominations were 
confirmed by the head of the Treasury Department. 

Mr. Cooj^er did not announce at once his intention to 
oppose my confirmation, but the eye of even so un- 
practised a political mariner as myself soon discovered 
indications of the tempest against which I should have 
to contend. Printed memorials to the Senate prepared 
here were circulated and sent, in many cases, to unsuccess- 
ful applicants to me for office in various counties of the 
interior, to be signed by persons to whom I was utterly 
unknown, "most resjDectfuUy but earnestly remonstrating 



10 

against my confirmation," without a single reason being 
assigned for my rejection, or the existence of any im- 
aginable motive in the signers for so remonstrating, ex- 
cept the failure to obtain places, above alluded to, or the 
desire to oblige those, who, to promote their own views, 
had solicited their signatures. One of these papers is 
annexed marked L. 

A so called Whig Journal, known as Senator Cooper's 
organ in this City, and a few affiliated presses else- 
where, united in this effort to manufacture a spurious 
public opinion against me. In that paper frequent at- 
tacks were made upon me, as they were also from time 
to time upon General Taylor's administration, while at 
intervals intimations were made that I might j)urchase 
peace. 

Rumors floated in the atmosphere that I would be 
rejected by the Senate, that Mr. Cooper would exert 
himself to defeat me, and of course that his opposition 
would be fatal. Some of our mutual friends brought 
these rumors to his notice. At first he denied their 
truth, and asserted his intention to support me ; — he 
then expressed indifference as to the result ; — next he 
prevaricated ; — on some occasions he avowed to others 
his determination to oppose me. 

In the meantime a little interlude was enacted here 
in which Mr. Gibbons, the confidential friend of Mr. 
Cooper and counsel of the present complainants, took 
part. It related to one of my inferior appointments, 
advocated by Mr. Gibbons, which it became proper for 
me to annul. This matter the annexed papers marked 
M, N, 0, P, Q, Pt, will sufficiently explain. P. and R. 
are copies of my letters to Mr. Gibbons. The others 
are in his handwriting. 



11 

As time rolled on the j^lot thickened. — At length 
Congress met. It was deemed prudent that I should 
strengthen myself for the conflict which seemed im- 
pending. A memorial in my favor having been pre- 
pared, it was extensively signed by our prominent 
merchants and others, and transmitted to the Senate. 
A copy of that paper is annexed marked S. 

Some of my friends who had conversed with Mr. 
Cooper felt confident that my nomination would receive 
his support; others doubted; some thought he would 
go against me. He was the Whig Senator from my 
own State, and I was anxious to receive his vote and 
influence, j)rovided I could secure them without a sacri- 
fice of princiiDle or disregard of the just claims of others. 
These concessions I would not make. Still I deemed 
it proper to repair to Washington and ascertain how I 
stood with him. This I did in January of last year. I 
called upon the President, told him my position, and 
requested that my nomination might be sent in to the 
Senate, as I was anxious to know the grounds upon 
which Mr. Cooper meant to oppose me, being now 
satisfied that such was his intention. The President 
said it should be done on the next Cabinet day, and it 
was done accordingly on the 7th of January, 1850. I 
then called on Mr. Cooper and told him the state of 
uncertainty in which I had been kept as to his course, 
requesting that he would tell me frankly what he meant 
to do in regard to my nomination. The interview was 
long and the subject canvassed dispassionately. The 
result may be given in a few words. — He said that his 
friends were dissatisfied :,.that he thought I should have 
made all the appointments he had asked : that he had 
concluded to resist my confirmation, but should only do 



12 

so on political grounds, as lie knew my cliaracter was 
above his reach, and he should not attempt to assail it : 
that if his friends could still be gratified he would sup- 
port me ; and that he wished me to think the matter 
over and to see him again. 

I told him I could not at that time extend the number 
of appointments of his friends, but suggested that it 
would be very unwise in him to oppose me, as I felt 
satisfied he could not accomj)hsh my rejection by the 
Senate, and that it would be doing his friends injustice, 
and diminish his own influence and standing, to attempt 
it and fail. I said that I was not unknown to most of 
the older Senators, among whom I named the Hon. 
Henry Clay, Wm. Rufus King, Daniel Webster, John 
C. Calhoun, (then living,) John Bell, Willie P. Mangum 
and others, and that I had been long honored with the 
friendship and confidence of some of them. 

He expressed the greatest admiration for my frank- 
ness and boldness, but ridiculed my simjolicity in quite 
a pleasant vein of humor ; said he was not such a fool 
as not to know that having a seat for six years m that 
body there was not a Senator whose wishes he might 
not thwart or promote on many occasions, and inti- 
mated that he could barter his vote on different ques- 
tions for a sufficient number of votes to defeat me. 

I told him he was mistaken : that the Senate of the 
United States was composed of men of too high senti- 
ments of honor to do injustice to individuals by such 
corrupt bargains. Moreover, I added, "You forget 
that you will want votes for your measures too, some- 
times, and that while you can give but one to them 
they have fifty-nine to bestow or withhold." 

Should the foregoing statement of the conversation 



13 

of a Senator of the United States appear incredible, 
the doubt will vanish when it is known that the same 
Senator having addressed to a member of Congress a 
letter to be used with the President in promoting my 
appointment, had on the same day furnished the same 
member with a letter equally strong in favor of another 
applicant for the same place, to be used, in like manner, 
in Ms behalf, should Ms chance of success appear better 
than mine ! ! 

We parted on the above described terms, and have 
had no subsequent interview. The following day I 
received an intimation from him, through a third party, 
that if I would support his organ the "Daily News," 
his objections to me might be overcome. I refused to 
treat on that basis. 

From that moment all the efforts of Mr. Cooper were 
directed to bring about my rejection by the Senate. 

I will neither attemjDt to enumerate nor characterize 
those efforts, but will content myself with naming some 
of them. After my interview with him, the details of 
which I have given, and my rejection of the proposal 
for conciliation that I should support the "Daily News," 
Mr. Cooper stated to a distinguished Democratic Senator 
that I had, in that interview, offered as the price of his 
support the places of all the Democrats holding office 
under me, giving to him the choice of their successors ! 
He said to Whig Senators that I had promised, if con- 
confirmed, to retain all the Democrats, and to Demo- 
cratic Senators that I was pledged, when confirmed, to 
turn them all out ! 

Large sums of money were wagered on my defeat 
by his adherents in this City. Assurances were given 
by him that my rejection was certain, and that but a 



14 

very small number of Honorable Senators, at times ten, 
then seven, and again but four, would be found to vote 
in my favor ! 

Every thing in his power was done to prejudice my 
case in the opinion of the members of the Committee 
of Commerce, who, nevertheless, after its being in their 
hands nearly eight months, it is understood, agreed to 
report unanimously in favor of my confirmation. 

Then" decision having become known to Mr. Cooper, 
he, as I am informed, brought to their notice new 
charges against me, and asked a reconsideration of the 
question. I have reason to beheve that his request was 
granted : their former judgment reaffirmed by the same 
vote : and the Report thus submitted to the Senate. 

During this period I was occasionally apprized by 
confidential friends at Washington of rumors oozing 
from the Senate Chamber that the most opprobrious 
imputations had been cast upon my character, all of 
which were traceable to the same source, and I was 
even notified by a valued friend in the Senate of the 
absolute necessity of my disabusing that body respect- 
ing some of those imputations. 

In this state of things I felt myself called upon to resort 
to the unusual, if not unprecedented, course of transmitting 
to individual Senators a printed copy of the testimonial in 
my favor addressed to the Senate in December, 1849, 
already mentioned as Exhibit S., with a circular prefixed 
signed by myself, a copy of which circular I append hereto 
marked T. 

This was done in the month of August, 1850. 

In answer to the statement of my friends that my con- 
firmation had been advocated by the chief business men in 
this city of both parties, a large majority of whom are 



15 

Whigs, it was said, that this had been the case it was true, 
but that since I had held office public opinion had changed. 
In the same month of August last, therefore, another me- 
morial, a copy of which is annexed marked U., was for- 
warded to the Honorable H. Hamlin, chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Commerce, and by him laid before the Senate, 
comprising most of the names on the first memorial, and 
many more than that document contained. 

On the 5th of September following, a letter was ad- 
dressed by a number of the gentlemen who had signed the 
above paper to the President of the Senate, in my favor, 
copy of which I annex marked V. 

The details of proceedings in Secret Session can of 
course only be imperfectly known to the public. It is no 
secret, however, that after three executive sessions had 
been exhausted, through Mr. Cooper's opposition, in con- 
sidering the unanimous report of the Committee in my 
favor, when it came up for the fourth time he prevailed 
upon the Senate to postpone the subject for a week, to give 
him time to prove, as he pledged himself to do, one of the 
very charges now under investigation, and some others 
not included in the present indictment. The delay was 
granted, and for the first time, I believe, since the estab- 
lishment of this Government, a Senator of the United States, 
having failed in every other attempt to defeat a nominee 
of the President, who would not be controlled by him, in- 
stitutes proceedings in a distant city, and has witnesses 
called to testify concerning every act known to them of 
that nominee's life by which he supposes his case may be 
prejudiced. 

Mr. Gibbons, the present counsel, conducted that prose- 
cution, as the annexed letters, marked W. X. Y. Z., will 
show, and whatever injurious suspicion may be attempted 



16 

to be cast upon me now because of the non-attendance on 
that occasion of any persons under my official control, I 
beg leave to say here that Mr. Gibbons gave me no notice 
of his intention to summon them. Had he done so they 
should either have appeared or been removed from office. 
The testimony of fifteen witnesses was taken before the 
Mayor, all summoned by Mr. Gibbons, and it is worthy of 
remark tliat the examination of George Read, one of his 
witnesses, was dispensed with, although he was in attend- 
ance. Neither was it deemed necessary that a single wit- 
ness should be called on my behalf, so signal was Mr. 
Cooper's failure then to blacken my character. 

The annexed letter addressed to me on the evening on 
which that abortive commission was closed, by my friend 
the Honorable Joseph R. Ingersoll, who acted as my volun- 
teer counsel on that occasion, marked A. a., gives a synop- 
sis of the proceedings. 

The garbage then collected was laid by Mr. Cooper be- 
fore the Senate, and of course disgusted every Senator but 
one. That one, it is understood, finding my confirmation 
certain should the vote be taken, asked for a week's further 
delay, which was refused ! The ill health of the Senator, 
however, as he alleged, confined him to his chamber for a 
longer period of time than that which he had asked, and in 
courtesy to him the subject was not acted upon during his 
absence. At length he resumed his seat, armed, it is said, 
with the deposition of Thomas McGrath that Francis E. 
Brady had told him that fictitious signatures had been af- 
fixed, in the Weighers Office, to printed circulars recom- 
mending me as a genuine Whig to the support of Whig 
Senators. The fatal hour at last arrived, and on the 
18th of September 1850, after a final and fruitless struggle 
to prevent it, my nomination was confirmed, forty-three 



17 

Senators being present, by the triumphant vote of thirty - 
six to seven, eighteen Democratic Senators having given 
me their support, and not a single member of liis own 
party voting with the Whig Senator from Pennsylvania ! 

I was in Washington when this occurred, and received 
information of the result immediately after from the lips of 
that great and venerable statesman and patriot, Henry Clay, 
whose fame is expanded over both hemispheres, and with 
whom thirty-six years previously I had traversed the ocean 
when he went on the mission of Peace. 

On my return home I was received with unexpected and 
distinguished honor. At a meeting of the merchants and 
business men, held on the 20th of September, twenty-one 
gentlemen were appointed a Committee to tender me on 
their behalf a public dinner, in token of their satisfaction at 
the result, which w41l be shown by exhibits. B. b., C. c. ; 
notices of congratulation appeared in many of the public 
prints, and it was generally believed by my friends that the 
hostility of which I had so long been the object would 
cease. 

Not so. Mr. Brady's removal, which had become a moral 
necessity, was the signal for a revival of the obsolete 
issues. Even previously to that event, Ihd within ten 
days after my confirmation, an effort was made by persons 
who were not parties to the matter I shall refer to, and had 
no interest in it, to aimoy me in another mode in reference 
to a transaction of business four and a half years old, which 
had formed one of the charges that had been already inves- 
tigated before the Mayor. Subsequently, on the occasion 
of the great Union meeting held in this City, in November 
last, my name having been placed by the Committee of 
Arrangements on the list of Vice Presidents, strong ob- 
jections were urged to it by Mr. Gibbons and other friends 

9 



18 

of Mr. Cooper, and aii attempt to intimidate having failed, 
an attempt equally fruitless was made, by the same influence 
on the night of the meeting, to prevent me from serving. 
The outrage was promptly rebuked by the almost unani- 
mous voice of that vast assembly. 

[I could not but feel a conscious pride in contrasting 
my position at that moment with the position of one 
of the prime movers, then present, in this puny effort 
to insult me, when I reflected that on the same spot, some 
few years before, at a meeting of his constituents almost 
equally numerous, he was the object of an unanimous 
vote of reprobation for his betrayal of their interests 
in the post of trust to which he had been assigned by 
their suffrages, in the Legislature of this Commonwealth. 
He still wanders among them, with an earthward look 
and a mark upon his brow as indelible as that of Cain, 
an outcast from their confidence and regard.] 

Notwithstanding these repeated discomfitures Mr. Coop- 
er, nothing daunted, submits now to the President of the 
United States, in the names of others, the formal charges 
against me which have been here investigated, and Mr. 
Gibbons, equally pertinacious, comes to superintend their 
prosecution. The testimony taken shows their futility. 
[It is the same Charles Gibbons to whom I have already 
alluded as the traitor to his constituents : it is he the 
cowardly calumniator, as feeble in intellect as he is un- 
manly in conduct, one of the chief contrivers of these 
unfounded and disgraceful charges and of the numerous 
exploded schemes to accomplish my dishonor, who is now 
present in the " fictitious" character of counsel : — -the se- 
ducer of some of my unfortunate subordinates who have 
put faith in him to their undoing : the writer of Brady's 
letter to me and of his certificate of competency ; the 



19 

author of Brady's Card and of his atrocious letter address- 
ed to Mr. Norris only through the medium of a newspaper, 
as also the instigator and author of several other documents 
meant to do me gross wrong : — all of which is fully in 
proof: the writer of a so termed " confidential" letter in 
liis own name to the President concerning me, dated the 
13th of November last, forwarding the duplicate of an affi- 
davit of a person holding office under me, the original of 
which I had called for and which, though intended for the 
Treasury Department, had not then been placed in my pos- 
session : a letter false and libellous throughout, and known 
by Mr. Gibbons to be so, a copy of which he has equally 
shrunk from allowing me to possess and from permitting to 
accompany the present record : — and, moreover, the par- 
ticipant with Senator Cooper, the master spirit and his 
principal coadjutor, in a correspondence relating to this con- 
spiracy which has been made testimony by his own wit- 
nesses, but which correspondence he -dares not produce. 

It is the same Charles Gibbons who was at one time the 
disappointed aspirant for the office of Attorney General of 
the State; at another for that of U. S. District Attorney; 
then an unsuccessful candidate for the post of Reporter 
of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of this Common- 
wealth ; and again a suitor for that of Solicitor to the Guar- 
dians of the Poor ; the meanest of mendicants for place, and 
the most knavish of political tricksters ; the enemy of the 
State Executive, because he failed to obtain an appoint- 
ment from him ; and for the same reason the reviler of 
the deceased patriot Taylor, whose strongest friends it is 
one of his chief delights to calumniate ; now the brawling 
Abolitionist and sturdy advocate of a law violative of the 
Constitution and dangerous to the integrity of the Union ; 
and, again, when he thinks his interest lies in that course, 
3 



20 

the noisy declaimer in favor of its repeal, and the hypo- 
critical eulogist of that Union, the bands of which he had 
done all that so weak a man could do to loosen. 

The mouth-piece and fit exponent of a petty and selfish 
faction, he sets at nought all the restraints of truth and 
all the dictates of honor, and finds in defamation his 
highest enjoyment. He carries with him the slime and 
venom but not the wisdom of the serpent. Menda- 
cious without ingenuity to give a plausible coloring to 
liis falsehoods: a slanderer without courage to vindicate 
his calumnies : with just enough of moral susceptibility 
to feel a sense of his degradation, and just enough of 
political perception to know that he has placed, by^ his 
treachery and insolence, between himself and all distinc- 
tions dependent upon the good opinion of his fellow-citi- 
zens, an impassable barrier : — such is Charles Gibbons !] 

Is this the end ? [Or is there to be no termination to 
the schemes of these unprincipled men to carry into 
effect their nefarious purposes against me ?] Thus far 
I have stood upon the defensive, conscious of my rectitude, 
and never doubting that the right must prevail : remem- 
bering, too, those apposite lines of the greatest of Poets : 

" If 1 am 
Traduced * * * * 

* * * * Let me say 
'Tis but the fate of place. * * * * 

* * * * We must not stint 
Our necessary actions in the fear 

To cope malicious censurers ; which, ever, 
As ravenous fishes, do a vessel follow 
That is new trimmed ; but benefit no further 
Than vainly longing." 

WM. D. LFVVIS, 

Collector of the Customs. 
PMIada., Jan. 24, 1851. 



I. EXHIBITS. 



(A.) 

Philadelphia, March 3d, 1S49. 

To His Excellency, Zachary Taylor, President of the United 

States. 
Sir, — 

The undersigned beg leave most respectfully to recommend as 
a suitable person for Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, William 
D. Lewis, Esq., a gentleman who was brought up among them to 
the mercantile profession, and who to a thorough business educa- 
tion unites the important requisite of long and varied experience, 
at home and abroad, in commercial pursuits. 

From their personal knowledge of this gentleman, and the social 
position he has for many years occupied among them, the under- 
simed feel entire confidence in recommending; him as combining all 
the qualities necessary for the faithful and intelligent discharge of 
the duties of the above important station. 

Of Mr. Lewis' political sentiments the undersigned deem it 
proper to say, that they are those of the great conservative party 
to whose success the people owe their present triumph, and to the 
carrying out of whose principles, under your Administration, they 
look without distrust for the re-establishment of the National pros- 
perity. 

In comprising in as few words as possible their reasons for 
respectfully but earnestly urging upon your Excellency's notice 
the qualifications of Mr. Lewis for Collector of this Port, and in 
expressing their strong hope that his application may meet with 
favor at your hands, the undersigned believe that the subject will 
be brought before you in the most acceptable manner. They have 
only to add their belief that his appointment would give general 
satisfaction. 

Your Excellency's most obedient servants, 
(Signed,) 
N. Chapman, Henry White, 

Richd. Willing, A. J. Lewis, 

T. C. Rockhill, W. Piatt, 

Jno. Grigg, Fred. Lennig, 

Robert Ralston, F. N. Buck, 

A. G. Ralston, David S. Brown, 

Benjamin Etting, Daniel Haddock, Jr. 

T. Biddle, Caleb Cope. 



22 



(B.) 

Philadelphia, March 28, 1849. 
To General Zachary Taylor, President of the United States. 

Sir,— 

Our fellow citizen, William D. Lewis, Esq., being an applicant 
for an honorable and responsible appointment under your adminis- 
tration, informs us that efforts have been made to prejudice your 
mind against him, in consequence of his former connexion, as 
Cashier, with the Girard Bank of this City. 

Having at different, and some of us for long, periods, while Mr. 
Lewis was Cashier, occupied the position of Directors of that Insti- 
tution, he thinks the expression of our favorable opinion, both of 
his capacity and moral worth, may be of consequence to him in 
disabusing your mind of the calumnies alluded to. 

We take great pleasure in testifying to the high qualities of Mr. 
Lewis' character, and in recording our confidence in his integrity 
after a long and intimate knowledge of him. 

To have passed through the ordeal of a ten years' cashiership of 
the second institution in magnitude in the United States, at the 
most trying period of our financial history, unscathed in reputation, 
and maintaining uninterruptedly the confidence of its Directors, is 
no small honor. This honor Mr. Lewis may justly claim. And, 
although the misfortunes of the Bank, and the difficulties of the 
times, induced, on two occasions, (the last one after the Bank had 
closed its doors,) the most searching investigation into its affairs by 
Committees of the Stockholders appointed by themselves, no shadow 
of reproach in either of their elaborate reports is cast upon Mr. 
Lewis' character. Nor has he since that period forfeited in any 
degree our favorable opinion or regard. 

It is a matter of comparatively small moment who may be the 
object of Executive favor, in regard to the public patronage, but 
the good fame of our fellow citizens holding the prominent position 
among us of Mr. Lewis is common property, and as such we feel it 
our duty to cherish and defend it. This must be our apology, Sir, 
for occupying so much of your time on the present occasion. 

We remain, most respectfully, 

Your obedient servants, 
(Signed,) 
John P. Wetherill, Charles S. Boker, 

Geo, T. Chambers, Jno. Grigg, 

Charles Humphreys, T. C. Rockhill, 

Charles F. Lex, Wm. McKee, 

John R. Vogdes, Chas. W. Churchman, 

Henry Welsh, David S. Brown, 

R. D. Wood, J. W. Gibbs, 

Charles Eugan, Stephen Baldwin, 



23 

C. Macalester, George Rundle, 

Jacob Lex, T. M. Bryan, 

Alex. W. Mitchell, B. S. Burling, 

Henry J. Boiler, Jas. S. Newbold, 

William H. Hart, J. McLanahan, 

Wm. Carman, Pearson Serrill, 

E. D. Woife. George Handy, 

Wm. E. Bowen, John S. Riddle. 



(C.) 
Dear Sir, — 
I was invited this morning to unite with several respectable 
friends of yours in a note to the President of the United States, 
on the subject of some imputations upon your conduct as Cashier 
of the Girard Bank. I declined doing so, not feeling myself at 
liberty to take any part in recommending candidates for office. 
But having been a Director of that Bank during two years, when 
its affairs had become embarrassed and were the subject of inves- 
tigation among the Stockholders, I feel it my duty to say, that I 
continued to repose the fullest confidence in your integrity and 
skill, and that this opinion was shared by all my colleagues. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

(Signed,) J. K. KANE. 

Philada., March 28, 1849. 
Wm. D. Lewis, Esq. 



(D.) 
Wm. D. Lewis, Esq. 

Dear Sir, — 
In reply to your request of last evening, I beg leave to state, that 
in 1842, shortly after the suspension of the Girard Bank, of Avhich 
you were the Cashier, I was appointed at a meeting of the Stock- 
holders Chairman of a Committee to investigate the affairs of that 
Institution. Public rumor having assigned to you a prominent part 
in producing the disasters of the Bank, the attention of the Com- 
mittee was particularly directed to an examination of that point, 
and it is but justice to say, that after a long and laborious investiga- 
tion of the books and papers of the Institution, which were freely 
submitted to our inspection, we found nothing establishing your 
indebtedness, either directly or indirectly, to the Bank, nor any- 
thing in the slightest degree implicating your integrity as an officer. 

Very truly yours, &c., 
(Signed,) HENRY HORN. 

Philada., March 28, 1849. 



24 

(E.) 

PoTTsviLLE, May 10th, 1849. 
Sir, — 

Not less than one hundred persons have addressed me from dif- 
ferent sections of the State requesting recommendations to you for 
sundry stations in your gift as Collector of the Port of Philadel- 
phia. There are some te,n of this number who in addition to 
abundant qualifications have rendered important services to the 
Whig party in the last and previous campaigns. If I can have 
the naming of that number, I will endeavor to present such persons 
as will be at once deserving and competent. 

Two or three of the places should afford salaries of $1500 a 
year ; one or two of $1200 ; the remainder of from $800 to $1100, 
or thereabouts. If you can consent to this, inform me as early as 
your convenience will permit. If you should do so, I will begin 
by naming George Read for the situation oi Weigher, for whose 
appointment I am anxious. If my proposal should not be complied 
with, there will be no harm done. 

Very respectfully and truly yours, 

(Signed,) JAMES COOPER. 

Wm. D. Lewis, Esq., Collector, &c. 



F. 

PoTTsviLLE, May 10th, 1849 
To W. D. Lewis, Esq., Collector, &c. 
Sir— 

Mr. George Read, of the county of Philadelphia, is an appli- 
cant for the office of Weigher in the Custom House, and it would 
afford me great pleasure to learn of his appointment. Mr. Read is 
an active Whig who has rendered important services to the party, 
not only in the last, but in previous campaigns; and is well quali- 
fied to discharge the duties of the post which he is seeking. He is 
a gentleman for whose appointment 1 am anxious, provided it can 
be made in pursuance of the proposition contained in my other let- 
ter to you of this date. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) JAMES COOPER. 



(G.) 

PoTTsviLLE, May 24, 1849. 
My Dear Sir — 

The following are the names of the gentlemen presented to 
Mr. Lewis for places : 

George Read, Philadelphia County. 
Alonzo Robb, do do 

N. Thorne, do do 



25 

Jesse Moore, Lombard Street, City. 

Henry J. Schreiner,* 

George W. Johnston, Blair County. 

Kobt. W. McSherry, Adams do 

H. C. Stroman, York do 

John xMcKee, Washing'n. do 

Ogle's man, Somerset do 

* Have heard Mr. S. has gone to Greene. 

I do not recommend these gentlemen as friends of mine. 1 re- 
commend them as Whigs who have deserved better of the party 
than they will receive, even if they should be appointed. There 
is but one man named who is a personal friend ; but I am pledged 
either to members of Congress or to the citizens of counties to have 
the above gentlemen appointed if possible. Independent of my re- 
commendation, all of them are strongly recommended — enough to 
justify their appointment. 

1 have set down one as Ogle's man. He named two, and I do 
not know which he prefers. Both are good men, and every man 
that I have named, with one exception, I know myself, and will be 
answerable for his capacity, integrity, &;c. I do not think Mr. Lewis 
should hesitate to appoint these men. 1 know it would be to his ad- 
vantage to do so. It would make him friends of several members of 
Congress, who will be able to do him much good or much evil. 
Yours very truly, 

(Signed) JAMES COOPER. 
Francis N. Buck, Esq. 



H. 

May 30, 1849. 
W. D. Lewis, Esq. Collector, &;c., 
Dear Sir — 

George F. Thorne, Esq., of the city of Philadelphia, is an ap- 
plicant for a situation in the Custom House, and I am deeply anx- 
ious for his appointment. I served with him in the House of Re- 
presentatives during the last session of the Legislature, and found 
him high-minded, intelligent and upright — above all reach of temp- 
tation or suspicion of it. From his worth I became attached to him, 
and will look upon his appointment as a personal favor of a kind 
that will merit and receive my warmest gratitude. Even if it should 
require the passing by of some other that 1 have named for a situa- 
tion, I would be gratified by Mr. Thome's appointment, and endea- 
vor to repay the favor I should esteem it. 
Yours respectfully and truly, 

(Signed) JAMES COOPER. 



26 

PoTTSviLLE, June 6th, 1849. 
Dear Sir — 

Henry J. Schreiner, Esq., to whom you were good enough to 
give an appointment in the Custom House, received on the same 
day an appointment from the Secretary of the Navy, which he will 
doubtless accept. I had made application for this last named place 
previously to my naming him to you ; but supposed my application 
would share the fate of others which 1 had made in that quarter. I 
was, however, mistaken ; and Mr. Schreiner, though grateful for 
your kindness, will accept the office at Washington. 

Under these circumstances, I venture to name Robt. W. McSherry 
for the place Mr. Schreiner was to have had. This is the gentle- 
man of whom I spoke as the only one that I had named on my own 
account.* He is capable, honest, a good Whig, universally esteem- 
ed at home, and his appointment in place of Mr. Schreiner, will be 
a favor to me. It is not adding to the list of those named. 1 trust, 
therefore, that you will appoint Mr. McSherry. I will be answer- 
able for the satisfactory discharge of his duties. 
Very respectfully and truly 

your obedient servant, 

(Signed) JAMES COOPER. 
To Wm. D. Lewis, Esq. 

* Note. — The person named to me by Mr. Cooper, as the one in whom he felt 
a particular interest, was Mr. Schreiner, and not Mr. McSherry. W. D. L. 



(J.) 

PoTTsviLLE, June 23d, 1849. 
My Dear Sir— 

Your favor of the 18th inst. has been received, and I thank you 
for the information relative to the old General. 

I have been much annoyed by letters and messages in relation to 
the appointment of our friend Read. Some of my best friends were 
much dissatisfied with the part I took; but Mr. Read and his friends 
stood by me, and I was glad to have an opportunity to shew them 
that I never forget those who have done me a kindness. I am glad 
he has the place ; notwithstanding all that has been objected against 
him, I doubt not that he is better than many of his assailants. He 
is the only friend of mine appointed. One other was appointed, 
but did not accept. 

I would be very glad if you would come up and see us. A few 
days' recreation this hot weather would do you good. Give my re- 
spects to South and Read, and believe me, 
Your sincere friend, 

(Signed) JAMES COOPER. 

Geo. J Weaver, Esq. 



27 

Philad'a. Sept. 11, 1850. 
I, George J. Weaver, (cordage manufacturer) of the county of 
Philadelphia, do solemnly, sincerely and truly swear, that the fore- 
going is a true copy of a letter received by me from James Cooper, 
dated Pottsville, June 23, 184-9. 

(Signed) GEORGE J. WEAVER. 

Sworn and subscribed lo before me, September 11, 1850. 

(Signed) JOEL COOK, Alderman. 



(K.) 

Philad'a. May 30, 1849. 
Hon. James Cooper, Pottsville. 
Dear Sir — 

I hand you herewith a notification of the appointment of Hen- 
ry J. Schreiner, Esq., of Franklin county, which you will (iblige 
me by giving its proper direction. This is the gentleman in whom 
1 understood you to feel a particular personal interest. 

And 1 beg leave to state further, that in consequence of the ur- 
gency with which you have advocated the appointment of George 
Read, Esq. to the highly responsible post of Weigher, I have in like 
manner, this day appointed him against the strongest and most gen- 
eral opposition 1 have ever witnessed here on any like occasion. — 
I mention this fact not meaning to imply that I merit any particu- 
lar praise for resisting the remonstrances of many powerful and 
highly valued friends in this instance, but merely that you may 
know that 1 am fully aware of the consequences likely to ensue 
from my determination to oblige you in making this appointment. 
Very respectfully and truly yours, 

(Signed) WM. D. LEWIS. 



(L.) 
To the Senate of the United States. 

The undersigned, citizens of , in the State ot Pennsyl- 

vania, most earnestly, but respectfully remonstrate against the con- 
firmation of \Vu. D. Lewis, Esq. as Collector of Customs at the Port 
of Philadelphia. 



(M.) 
My Dear Sir — 

Mr. James O'Rourke, who will hand you this note, will be an 
applicant for the post of Principal Js'iglit Inspector^ either on the 
Delaware or Schuylkill. This is at the disposal of the Collector of 
the Port ; and if active political services be any recommendation, 



28 

Mr. O'Eourke has fairly and fully earned the humble station which 
he asks. I have referred him to you with this note, because Iknow 
that through you he may be able to secure the appointment. 
Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

Mr. Hex\ey White. May 10, 1849. 

(N.) 
My Dear Sir — 

James O^Rourke " is the boy " for principal Night Inspector on 
the Schuylkill. I place his name on paper that you may not forget 
it. The man who now holds it threatened Jimmy -with divers pun- 
ishments for working with us in the late campaigns ; whereupon, 
Jimmy took a solemn oath that he would have " that same office in 
the year 1849." He deserves the office, I know, and needs it, too, 
for he has twelve children already, and is still in the business ! 

I mentioned to you the name of Ross Patterson, an old school- 
mate and a worthy man, for an appointment as Inspector. He comes 
from an old Delaware family of great respectability, and 1 feel much 
interested for his welfare. He is a Whig-Native, living in Moya- 
mensing — will make a good officer — and you will oblige"me by 
mentioning his name to Mr. Lewis, whom I have not been able to 
see. 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

Ch. S. BokeR, Esq. May 15th, 1849. 



(0.) 

79 Walnut St. July 7, 1849. 

Dear Sir — 

Mr. James O'Rourke has received a notice from the Deputy 
Surveyor to the effect that he has been discharged'from the position 
in the Custom House to which you appointed him a short time ago. 
The charge against him, as he has heard from an unofficial source, is 
that he fell asleep at his post on board a vessel on the night of the 
5th inst. For this he has been summarily dismissed without notice 
of the complaint, and without an opportunity of saying a word in 
his own defence. 

Mr. O'Rourke is a very poor man, and has a wife and eight chil- 
dren, all dependent upon him for their bread. This is the only con- 
sideration that induces me to trouble you with this letter, and to ask 
as a matter of justice to him and to bis family, that he may be restor- 
ed to the humble office from which he has been removed without 
reasonable cause. He admits that he fell asleep, but I am sure you 
will not punish him so severely for such an offence, when you are 
informed of the fact that on Sunday last he had a severe attack of 



29 

the Cholera, which of course confined him for several days to his 
house. Before he had entirely recovered he returned to his duties, 
but was so much exhausted by the disease that he was unable to 
perform them. 1 understand that his medical attendant will confirm 
this statement. Upon this ground, 1 ask in behalf of his family, and 
not as a matter of favor to myself, that the edict of dismissal may 
be reconsidered. 

Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

Mr. Wm. D. Lewis, Collector of Port. 



No. 360 Sprtjce St. July 11, 184-9. 

Dear Sir — 

If the statement contained in your letter of the 7th inst. deriv- 
ed from James O'Rourke, as to tiie circumstances which led to his 
dismissal were true, it would doubtless be my duty ''as a matter of 
justice to him and his family to restore him to the humble situation 
from which," you allege, that "he has been removed without rea- 
sonable cause." 

But, unluckily, the facts do not correspond with your informa- 
tion. He had scarcely been inducted into oflice before I was in- 
formed that he was addicted to habits of intemperance ; and official 
reports of the fact were soon after made to me. Still, as he had 
been strongly recommended by yourself and some other friends, 
whose devotion to Whig principles in their strictest sense, are above 
suspicion, I was anxious, as well to oblige you and them by his re- 
tention, as to save him from the disgrace and misfortune of being 
dismissed. To this end, 1 requested the captain of the night watch 
to remonstrate with him on the impropriety of his conduct, and 
warn him that unless it was changed, 1 should be obliged to displace 
him. 

This, I am assured, was done on several occasions, but without 
effect, and I at length felt that I had an official duty to perform 
which was paramount to every consideration of obliging the politi- 
cal or personal friends, either of JNIr. O'Rourke or myself. 

If you desire to examine the testimony which establishes the fact 
of Mr. O'Kourke's having been drunk and incompetent to perform 
his duty on the night of the 5th instant, while in charge of a for- 
eign vessel, you can have the opportunity of doing so by calling on 
me at the Custom House whenever it may suit your convenience. 
Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) WM. D. LEWIS. 

Mr. Charles Gibbons, 79 WalnutSt. 



30 

(Q.) 

79 Walnut St. July 13, 1849. 

Dear Sir — 

On my return to the city this morning, I found your letter of 
the 11th instant, relative to the case of O'Rourke. 1 believe the 
statements contained in my letter of the 7th instant to be true, not- 
withstanding your information to the contrary ; and I still think that 
O'Rourke was discharged without reasonable cause. 

When the charge ofdrunkenness was preferred against him, I re- 
gret that your great anxiety "to save him from the disgrace and misfor- 
fimeof being dismissed," did not happen to suggest that there might 
be two sides to the story, and that it would be fair to afford him the 
opportunity of facing his accusers and repelling the charge. As the 
decree, from the tenor of your letter, appears to be irrevocable, I 
can feel no interest in examining the exparte testimony upon which 
you acted. I beg to repeat, that my interference in this matter has 
proceeded from no oiher feeling than that of sympathy for a poor 
and honest man, who is " more sinned against than sinning." 
Very respectfully your?, &c., 

(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

Mr. Wm. D. Lewis, Collector, &c. 



(R.) 
360 Spruce St. July 14, 1849. 
Dear Sir — 

1 have received your amusing epistle of yesterday, to which I 
should not deem it necessary to reply, except to inform you that I 
merely offered you access to the official statements of your friend 
Mr. O'Rourke's drunkenness, which caused his dismissal, as an act 
of courtesy, and not as an admission (vvrhich you seem to have 
supposed) that I considered myself in any degree amenable to you, 
for my conduct as a public officer. 
Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) WM. D. LEWIS. 

Mr. Chas. Gibbons, 79 Walnut St. 



(S.) 



To the Senate of the United States : 

The undersigned, merchants and others of the City and Coun- 
ty of Philadelphia, respectfully represent, that they have learnt 
with surprise and regret that efforts are being made to defeat the 
confirmation, by your honorable body, of William D. Lewis, Esq. 
the present Collector of the Customs for this District. 

The undersigned are not informed of the ground of such a pro- 



31 



cedure, but deem it a simple act of justice to Mr. Lewi?, who has 
been well known to most of them for many years, and who has now 
held the officcj under President Taylor's appointment since May last, 
to express their satisfaction at the manner in which he has discharged 
its duties, their confidence that he will so continue to discharge 
them, and their hope that the Senate will confirm his nomination. 

The chief interest felt by the undersigned, most of whom are en- 
gaged in active business, and many of them having large transac- 
tions with the Custom House, as to who should be Collector of the 
Port, is, that he should be "honest and capable." They believe 
Mr. Lewis to be both; and that, therefore, the interests of the Go- 
vernment as well as their own, will be safe in his hands. 

If the opposition to him arises, as some suppose, from feelings of 
disappointment among those who have not received office from him, 
it must be obvious to your honorable body that with so few places 
to distribute among so many applicants, which, as we are informed 
have been in the ratio of one to thirty, no person could have avoid- 
ed the same result, however wise his distribution^might have been. 

Not doubting that Mr. Lewis has exercised due discretion in this 
matter, and believing in the general competency and courtesy of 
his subordinates, the undersigned cannot think that the judgment of 
so august a tribunal as the Senate of the United Slates, will be 
swayed, in so grave a matter, by influences such as have been above 
referred to. 

It is under these circumstances that the undersigned have ventur- 
ed, most respectfully, to express their sentiments in favor of Mr. 
Lewis' confirmation by your honorable body. 

Philad'a. December, 1849. 



(Signed) 



John Welsh 
Stepn. Baldwin 
Lewis & Co. 
Stuart & Brother 
P. Brady i< Co. 
Charles Vezin 
Robins, Hill, & Co. 
Wm.McKee & Co. 
Bicking, Chur & Co. 
Wilmer, Cannell & Co. 
M. B. Mahony 
Destouet, Brothers 
Mecke, Plate 8s Co. 
Corbit & Co. 
Walter & Berghauser 
Hanline & Ostheimer 
J. B. Okie 
Robt. Ewing 
Henry Farnum & Co. 
Wm. H. Bernard 
John H. Chambers & Co. 
Jas. J. Boswell & Co. 



Saml. &Wm. Welsh 
Carson & Newbold 
John A. Lewis & Co. 
James Wray 
Gillilan & Co. 
Wm. F. Jones & Bro. 
Richardson, Watson & Co. 
Jno. B. Myers 
Wood, Abbott & Co. 
Rockhill & Co. 
Burnett, Withers & Co. 
Barcroft, Beaver & Co. 
Caleb Cope & Co. 
F. Thorspecken & Co. 
Eckel, liaiguel & Co. 
Conrad & Roberts 
Townsend Sharpless & 

Sons 
Sharp, Haines & Co. 
Nicholas Lennig & Co. 
Geo. McHenry 
£dw. Harris Milea 



Burling & Dixon 
John Mason & Co. 
Potter, McKeever & Co 
A. C. Barclay 
Tho. Allibone & Co. 
Grant & Stone 
E. Lincoln 8i Co. 
H. & A. Cope & Co. 
Deland & Grant 
Jos. R. Evans & Co. 
S. Morris Wain & Co. 
John Devereux 
Jauretche & Carstairs 
George Dufour 
JMcKean, Borie & Co. 
David H. White 
Wm. R. Thompson & Co. 
Jno.M. Kennedy & Co. 
Daniel L. Miller, jr. 
Pr. Ls. Laguerenne 
David S. Brown & Co. 
Reeves, Buck & Co. 



Fithian, Jones & Co. 

Smith & Way 

Dunton, Henry & Lawson 

Fobes & Gibbons 

Hewson, Abbott & Co. 

Roset & Troutman 

Is. Lloyd & Son 

Wm. Cummings 

W. Piatt & Son 

Anderson, White & Lip- 
pincott 

Dallett, Brothers 

Butcher & Brothers 

Souter, Jones & Co. 

Tho. Wattson & Sons 

Franklin, Piatt & Co. 

Martin & Smith 

J, W. Throckmorton 

Lindley Smyth 

Taylor, Gillespie & Co. 

A. & G. Ralston & Co. 

John Garrison 

N. B. Thompson 

Isaac R. Davis 

E. M. Davis & Co. 

Dickson & Co. 

Thomas M. Smith 

Lovi^ber & Wilmer 

Fales, Lothrop & Co. 

J. McLanahan & Co. 

R. Patterson & Co. 

Robert Taylor & Co. 

Fras. Tete 

Joseph B. Myers 

David Lapsley 

Musgrave, Wurts &Co. 

Benj. Coates & Co. 

Sibley, Molton & Wood- 
ruff 

Robert F. Potter 

Wise, Pusey & Wise 

Reed & Bros. 

Peter Wright & Sons 

James B. Ferree 

Bailey & Co. 

M. Schultz &Co. 

Glasgow Holmes & Co. 

Dulles, Earl & Cope 

Sam. Pleasants 

Arnold, Springer & Co. 

David & Jones 

Tingley & Burton 

John B. Stryker 

McFadden & Gass 

Jas. R. Smith 

Cooper, Henderson & Co. 

Ellisons & Peters 

Daniel Remick 

Gaus, Leberman & Co. 

Minford & Camm 



32 

Figueira, St(Ever,& Lang- John Tiers & Co. 



stroth 
L. J. Levy & Co. 
White, Stevens & Co. 
H. Sloan 

W. Taylor & Co. 
E. C. Knight 
Earps, Haven & Tucker 
John F. Ohl & Son 
James Devereux 
John R. Rue 
G W. Bremeyer 
Houston & Robinson [hall Richd. S. Smith 
Rutter, Patteson & New- Simeon Toby 



McCutcheon & Collins 
J. B. A. & S. Allen 
Rowley & Ashburner 
J. Palmer & Co. 

D. W. Eldridge 
Levi Eldridge 

E. J. Etting&Bro. 
Isaac Jeanes 
Samuel Clarke 
Jos. T. Sarchet 
Arthur G. Coffin 



Boyle & Stroud 
Fearons & Smith 
Ecky & Watkin 
Nathan Trotter & Co. 
Woodward & Brinckle 
Thomas & Martin 
Wm. Jones & Sons 
Jos. S. Lovering & Co. 
Worrells, Coates & Co 



C. Macalester 

J. R. Wucherer 

Wm. Craig 

Wm. G. Alexander 

N. Hopkins 

Wm. M. Baird & Co. 

Wm. S. Simpson 

F. W. Rawle 

Wm. W. Keen & Co. 



Richd. Ashhurst & Sons D. Kirkpatrick & Sons 



Joseph C. Grubb 
Westcott & Co. 
Bowlby & Brenner 
Hildeburn & Bros 
Page & Brother 
J. Godley 
Francis N. Robeno 
L. R. Warrington 
Haddock, Haseltine & 

Reed 
Field & Langstroth 
Lambert, Johnes & Co. 
Joseph Howell & Co. 
Jno. Stewart 
Nath L, Paleske 
Dunlop & Grossman 
Wood, Corey & Wood 
Addicks, Van Dusen & 

Smith 
Geo. Rundle 
Grigg, Elliott & Co- 
Frederick Brown 
J, W. Gibbs 
Charles Humphreys 
Richd. Willing 



John Rice 
Saml. A. Lewis &Bro. 
Benjn. M. Bunker 
Wm. S. Smith & Co. 
J. M. Odenheimer 
Wm. S. Hansen & Son 
James L. Claghorn 
Samuel T. Altemus 
Sam. C. Morton 
A. R. Chambers 
John Lloyd 
John B. Austin 
Wm. H. Brown & Co. 
Thomas P. Cope 
Isaac Elliott 
Chas C. Watson & Son 
Howell & Brothers 
Euston & Weer 
L. Harwood 
Andrew C. Cattell 
Jacob M. Thomas 
J. B. Trevor 
A. E. Borie 
Geo. W. Watson 
Saml. Bispham 



Morris, Tasker & Morris John S. Bispham 



B. J. Tucker & Outer- 
bridge 
E. & C. Yarnall & Co. 
H. Duhring 
Is. Hazlehurst 
Thomas Biddle 
Klemm & Bro. 
Curtis & Hand 
Robert Adams & Co. 
Robert Creighton 



Jacob Lex & Son 
John Farnum & Co. 
R. &W.C. Biddle & Co. 
John McCanles 
Edmd. Garretson 
Pritchett & Baugh 
William C. Keemhle 
J. R. IngersoU 
Toppan, Carpenter & Co. 
Buck & Potter 



33 



John R. Worrell & Son 
P. McCall 

Rosengarten & Denis 
George W. Martin 
Hacker, Lea & Co. 



Alve E. Laing 
Jas. Barratt 
Russell & Blair 
John P. Wetherill 
Allen & Needles 



Thos. W. Morgan 
Wm. Newell 
Van Brunt & Fitzgerald 
J. H. Michener & Co. 



(T.) 

Philadelphia, August, 1850. 
Sir, — 

The difficulty of learning the daily invented calumnies 
concerning me, which are secretly circulated among Honorable 
Senators, and the still greater difficulty of being able, in all cases, 
when such calumnies reach my ears, to prove a negative, seem to 
impose upon me the duty of placing in the hands of each member 
of the Senate, such a testimonial of my general character as may 
at least be deemed strong presumptive proof of the falsehood of 
those derogatory statements. 

It is for this reason that I venture, not without reluctance, to 
solicit your perusal of the annexed document, the original of which 
was presented to the Senate by the Honorable Daniel Sturgeon in 
January last, and is doubtless now in possession of the Committee 
on Commerce. 

As regards the signers of that paper, I hazard nothing in assert- 
ing that their names may be placed, without fear of disparagement, 
alongside of any equal number of names of the highest respect- 
ability to be found in any community. And I hope to be excused 
for adding that, were it not out of rule to do so, reference could be 
made to several of your distinguished colleagues whose friendship 
it has been my privilege to enjoy for more than a third of a 
century, and who, it is not doubted, if appealed to, would willingly 
attest their faith in the truth of the opinions expressed by my 
neighbours and fellow citizens. 

I have the honor to remain, very respectfully. 
Your obedient servant, 
Hon. (Signed,) WM. D. LEWIS. 

U. S. Senate, Washington. 



(U.) 

To the Senate of the United States. 

The undersigned, merchants and others of the City and County 
of Philadelphia, without distinction of party, respectfully represent 
to your honorable body : — 

That the prevalence of rumors soon after the meeting of the 
present Congress, that efforts would be made to cause the rejection 
of Wm. D. Lewis, Esq., the Collector of this Port, appointed by 
the late President Taylor, induced many of the undersigned to 

3 



34 



address the Senate in December last and urge the propriety of his 
confirmation. 

The great length of time that has elapsed smce then, the recent 
revival of those rumors, and the belief expressed in his defeat by 
the persons who circulate them, render it proper, in the opinion of 
the undersigned, that our Mercantile community, to whom Mr. 
Lewis has been so long and so well known, should, after eight 
months further experience of the mode in which he conducts the 
business of his office, which he has now held for fifteen months, 
renew their testimony to the promptness courtesy and efficiency 
with which its duties are performed by him, and again express 
their entire confidence in his integrity, and their earnest hope, that 
his nomination will be confirmed by your honorable body. 

The undersigned feel certain that such a result would give almost 
universal satisfaction here, besides securing to the Government the 
services of an active, faithful, and intelligent officer, in an important 
public department. 

Philadelphia, August, 1850. 



(Signed), 

John Welsh, 
Saml. & Wm. Welsh, 
E. Lincoln & Co. 
Wm. McKee & Co. 
George Dufour, 
Jauretche & Carstairs, 
Pr. Ls. Laguerenne, 
Victor N. Sartori, 
Bevan & Humphreys, 
Paul Pohl, 
Scull & Thompson, 
Bicking, Chur &, Co. 
White, Stevens & Co 



Stephen Baldwin & Co. Carson »fe Newbold, 
Earps, Haven & Tucker, Jos. R. Evans &l Co 
Wm. R. Thompson & Co. Jno. A. Lewis & Co 
Dulles, Earl &, Cope, 



Minford & Camm, 
Thomas Fleming, 
J. Percival & Son, 
H. & A. Cope & Co. 
Deland & Grant, 
George B. Reese, 
P. Brady & Co. 
Myers, Claghorn & Co. 



McCutcheon & Collins, 
Geo. Hammersley, 
Samuel Asbury, 
J. L. Laffitte, 
Glasgow, Holmes & Co. 
E. J. Etting & Brothers, 
Potter, McKeever & Co. 
Wm. Jones & Sons, 
Grant & Stone, 
Thomas & Martin, 



Dickson & Co 
Richardson Watson & Co. Rich'd Ashhurst & Sons. Sam : Pleasants, 
Robins, Hill & Co. Caleb Cope & Co. Lea, Bunker & Co. 

Wray & Gillilan, J. R. Ingersoll, 

Lewis &, Co. James S. Smith, 

Stuart & Brother, Saun. Lewis, 

FigueraStoever & Langs- Hyman Gratz, 

troth, Rich'd S. Smith, 

Charles Vezin, Son «fe Co. Lawrence Lewis, 

J. R. Wucherer, 

William Craig, 

Arthur G. Coffin, 

Rob. Ewing, 

L. Wain, 

A. & G. Ralston & Co. 

Furness, Brinley & Co. 

Worrells, Coates & Co. 



Sharp, Haines & Co. 
Gihon &, Co. 

perG. W. Altemus, 
Hanline & Ostheimer, 
James Brown, 
White, Warner & Co. 
Wm. F. Long, 
And. C. Craig, 



Rutter, Patteson & New- Corbit & Co. 



hall, 

Daniel L. Miller, Jr. 
Henry Farnum & Co. 
Jos. Bispham, 
J. Godley, 

Nicolas Lennig & Co. 
David S. Brown & Co. 



Joseph S. Lovering& Co. 
Thomas Allibone & Co. 
John Rice, 
Butcher & Brothers, 
Burling & Dixon, 
Wetherill & Brothers, 
Nathan Trotter & Co. 



Wm. S. Smith & Co. 
William B. Reed, 
Rank, Brooke & Repplier, 
Spang & Wallace, 
Geo. Rundle, 
James Devereux, 
John F. Ohl & Son, 
John Devereux, 
Isaac Jeanes, 
J. B. A. & S. Allen, 
Reeves, Buck & Co. 
Conrad & Roberts, 
Eckel, Raiguel & Co. 
Wood, Abbott & Co. 
Walter & Berghauser, 
E. C. Knight, 
McCutcheon & Collins, 
G. W. Bremeyer, 
Houston & Robinson, 
T. Sharpless & Sons, 
Robert Taylor & Co. 
Edw. H. Rowley, 



35 



Stone, Slade & Farnum, 

James J. Boswell, 

Davies, Stevenson & Co. 

Geo. McHenry, 

Chas. C. Watson & Son, 

Wm. H. Brown & Co. 

Musgrave, Wurts & 
Bonnell, 

Martin & Smith, 

Page & Brother, 

Burnett, Withers & Co. 

Barcroi't, Beaver & Co. 

Reed & Bros, 

Wise, Pusey & Wise, 

Rockhill & Co. 

Roset & Troutman, 

Fithian, Jones & Co. 

Forbes & Gibbons, 

Fred. Thorspecken & Co. 

Joseph Howell & Co. 

Howell & Brothers, 

Richd. Wilhng, 

Frederick Brown, 

M.J. Croll &Co. 

Tingley & Burton, 

McFadden & Gass, 

Arnold, Springer & Co. 
Pritchett & Baugh, 
Alexr. E. Outerbridge, 
Woodward & Brinckle, 
Washington Brown, 
L. J. Levy & Co. 
H. R. Davis, 
Coleman Fisher, 
Nevins & Whelen, 
Chas. Camblos, 
Wm. A. Budd, 
Louis P. DuBois, 
Robert Johnston & Co. 
C. D'lnvilliers, 
E. S. Whelen & Co. 
Andrew R. Chambers, 
John H. Chambers, 
Ellisons & Peters, 
McKean,Borie & Co. 
B. P. Hutchinson, 
Charles S. Boker, 
W. L. Schaffer, 
Wm. Kirkham, 
T. Wickersham & Son, 
R. McMuUui, 
Tho's Biddle & Co. 
Alex. Benson & Co. 
Isaac R. Davis, 
Lindley Smyth, 
Hewson, Abbott & Co. 
Jacob M. Thomas, 
Toppan, Carpenter, Casi- 

lear & Co. 
Geo. Lippincott & Co. 



W. Piatt & Son, 

per W. Piatt, Jr. 
M. B. Mahony & Co. 
Steever & Whitaker, 
H. Catherwood & Son, 
E. M. Davis & Co. 
L. P. Grosholz, 
Gans, Leberman & Co. 
Coatcs & Brown, 
Jonathan Sowers, 
Thompson, Carr & Co. 
Peter Wright & Sons, 
Curtis & Hand, 
Robert Lesley, 
Sam'l Bispham, 
Robert Steen & Co. 
Field & Langstroth, 
George Esherick & Co. 
Joseph C. Grubb, 
Hildeburn &?Brothers, 
£. & C. Yarnall & Co. 
Edw'd Bowlby, 
Lowber & Wilmer, 
Wilmer, Cannell & Co. 
Ecky & Watkin, 
Fearons & Smith, 
J. H. Michener & Co. 
Boyle & Stroud, 
W. Taylor & Co. 
Wm. M. Baird & Co. 

Bailey & Co. 

Sam'l C. Morton, 

Wm. J. Leiner, 

A. H. McCalla, 

Eras. Tete, 

A. C. Barclay, 

Thos. Wattson & Sons. 

Robert Burton, 

Workman & Co. 

Gideon G. Westcott, 

Is : Hazlehurst, 

P. McCall, 

Klemm & Brother, 

Jacob Lex, 

Wm. S. Hansel! & Sons, 

R.itW.C. Biddle & Co. 

J. M. Odenheimer, 

J. W. Throckmorton, 

Dunton, Henry & Lawson, 

Jas. R. Smith & Co. 

Benj'n Coates & Co. 

Abbott, Johnes & Co. 

Wood, Corey & Wood, 

Sibley, Molton & Wood- 
ruff', 

Haddock, Haseltine & 
Reed, 

Addicks, Van Dusen & 
Smith, 



C. Macalester, 
1. P. Pleasants, 
J. W. Gibbs, 
J. B. Okie, 
Wm. H. Bernard, 
Wm. F. Jones & Bro. 
Jacob Snider, Jun'r. 
Cha'sH. Welling, 
Reiss, Bros. & Co. 
John Farnum & Co. 
Russell & Blair, 
Chas. Ryan, 
James S. Newbold, 
Edw. Harris Miles, 
Smith, Way & Co. 
Cooper, Henderson & Co. 
William W. Keen & Co. 
John B. Bernadou, 
Henry Horn, 
George W. Toland, 
Buck & Potter, 
Myers & Kirkpatrick, 
J. B. Trevor, 
Brady & Bilbrough, 
Wm. G. Alexadder, 
Heron & Martin, 
H. N. Fitzgerald, 

C. P. Relf, 

John Brock, Sons & Co. 
A. D. Cash, 
Robert Adams & Co. 
Morris, Tasker & Morris 
A. C. Cattell, 
Allen & Needles, 
Thos. W. Morgan, 
J. Palmer & Co. 
Levi Eldridge & Co. 
E. W. Clark & Co. 
John Mason & Co. 
Dallett Brothers, 

D. Kirkpatrick & Sons, 
Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 
Wm. Harris, 

Lewis & Sterling, 
Jno. Stewart, 
Charles Humphreys, 
David Scull & Son, 
Wm. Newell, 
Isaac Lloyd & Son, 
Wm. Cummings & Co. 
Rosengarten & Denis, 
Julian & Mason, 
John Lloyd, 
John Tiers & Co. 
Taylor, Gillespie & Co. 
George W. Aspinwall, 
H. Duhring, 
D. W. KIdridge, 
Geo. J. Weaver & Co. 



36 

(V.) 

Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1850. 
Hon. W. R. King, 

JPresident of the United States Senate, 

Sir:— 

The undersijrned, some of whom are among those who originally- 
recommended Mr. William D. Lewis to the late President as eminently- 
qualified in every respect for Collector of this Port, and all of whom 
are glad at all times, and on all occasions, to class themselves among 
his friends, deem it due to Mr. Lewis, to themselves, and to this com- 
munity, at the present time, to address you this letter, and they yen- 
are to hope you will find an apology for the liberty they are taking 
in the necessity which calls it forth. 

Mr. Lewis has now been performing the duties to which he was 
called for a period of about fifteen months, and we venture to assert, 
without fear of contradiction, to the entire satisfaction of the whole 
commercial community as well as to the Government, and has thus 
proved himself honest and capable, furnishing, himself, by his official 
conduct, the evidence which we are sure best commends itself to a 
body like the United States Senate, and which, it seems to us, ought 
to silence all opposition, and secure to him a unanimous confirmation. 
Why that has not been secured before would be to us a matter of sur- 
prise, if we felt ourselves at liberty to question the wisdom of that 
dignified body whose duty and whose practice, we know, is to consider 
patriotically, and free from all personal considerations, every ques- 
tion coming before them. 

Our object, however, is not now so much to urge upon you the 
entire propriety of confirming Mr. Lewis as Collector, as it is to vin- 
dicate the fair fame of an honourable and estimable fellow-citizen, and 
to repel the implied assaults upon the reputation of those of us who 
originally recommended his appointment, as well as of those who have 
since joined in numerous petitfons to the Senate for his confirmation. 
It is true that the objections to Mr. Lewis do not reach us specifically, 
and we have, therefore, nothing special to deny, but we do not feel it 
less incumbent on us, at this time, to vindicate his and our reputation, 
because founded on slanderous rumour, and we now beg leave 
earnestly to express the conviction that Mr. Lewis will disprove, 
whenever called upon, every specific charge that may be brought to 
impeach his integrity as a man, or his qualifications for the office he 
holds. 

We submit this to you, sir, with entire respect as the presiding 
officer of the Senate, with a request that, if your judgment so approves, 
you will lay it before that body, 
And are. 

With sentiments of high respect, 
Your obedient servants, &c. 
(Signed) 

Isaac R. Davis, Samuel Grant, 

Henry White, Saml. Allen, 



37 



John Welsh, 

Frcdk. Lennig, 

G. D. Rosengarten, 

P. Brady, 

Franklin Piatt, 

Robt. Ewing, 

N. B. Thompson, 

E. C. Knight, 

John Mason, 

David S. Brown, 

Robert F. Walsh, 

John Yarrow, 

R. D. Wood, 

Jno. B. Myers, 

N. Chapman, M. D., 

Henry W. Ducachet, 

Wm. Harris, 

Isaac Hays, 

Wm. E. Horner, M. D., 

A. J. Lewis, 

Charles Vezin, 

J. Stevens, 

Thos. Allibone, 

Thos. Wynn Butcher, 

Thos. Watlson, 



Thos. B. Wattson, 
Washington Butcher, 
W. Piatt, 
J. Palmer, 
H. Sloan, 
Joseph B. Myers, 
B. S. Burling, 
F. E. Dixon, 

D. B. Taylor, 
Wm. Struthers, 
T. Deland, 
Saml. Grant, Jr., 
Wm. Gillespie, 
Stephen Baldwin, 6; Co., 
Benj. Etting, 

E. J. Etting, 
Jno. D. Taylor, 
Daniel Smith, Jr., 
Wm. R. Thompson, 
Wm. Newell, 

Pr. Ls. Laguerenne, 
T. C. Rockhill, 
Rich'd. Willing, 
Bern'd. Henry. 



(W.) 

Philadelphia. 

79 Walnut St. 

Sept. 5, 1850. 
Dear Sir : — 

It is proposed to take the depositions of witnesses before his Honor, 
Joel Jones, Mayor of this City, to be read in the Senate of the United 
States, upon the further consideration of your nomination, and adverse 
to your appointment as Collector of the Port of Philadelphia. 

Please signify your assent in writing by the bearer to this proposi- 
tion, and I will call on you immediately, and fix a time of meeting 
which may suit your convenience for the purpose indicated. 

In case of your silence or dissent, depositions ex parte will be 
taken, and sent to the Senate without delay. 

Very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

William D. Lewis, Esq. 



38 
(X.) 

Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1850. 
Sir:— 

I have received your notification of this date, that it is proposed 
to take the depositions of witnesses before his Honor, Joel Jones, 
Mayor of this city, to be read in the Senate of the United States, upon 
the further consideration of my nomination and adverse to my ap- 
pointment as Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, wiih a request 
that I would signify my assent in writing, which I do hereby. 

I shall be ready to see you as soon as may suit your convenience, 
in order that the time may be fixed on. I take it for granted that 
the names of the witnesses you propose to examine, as well as the 
nature of the charges you will attempt to prove, will be furnished 
me, and that said witnesses are to be subject to cross-examination ; 
and also that the right of offering rebutting testimony is reserved to 
me. 

Very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) WM. D. LEWIS. 

Charles Gibbons, Esq. 



(Y.) 

Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1850. 
Dear Sir : — 

I have received 3'our letter in reply to my notification of this date. 
It is proposed to take the depositions of Mr. J. C. Harris, Mr. Wil- 
liam C. Bridges, Mr. John S. Riddle, Mr. Charles H. Fisher, and 
Mr. E. D. Whitney, at 11 o'clock to-morrow morning, in the Mayor's 
private office, the time and place verbally agreed upon by you and 
myself this morning. Some other witnesses will probably be exa- 
mined, but I have not yet been furnished with their names. They 
will all be subject to cross-examination. 

When the witnesses under this arrangement shall have been exa- 
mined, should you desire to take rebutting testimony before the 
Mayor, you wifl have a full opportunity of doing so, upon any reason- 
able notice to General Smith, Mr. Sprogell, or myself. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

Mr. William D. Lewis. 



(Z.) 

Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1850. 
My Dear Sir : — 
I hand you the statements of several persons who will attend before 



39 

the Mayor to-morrow at the appointed hour, for the purpose of beinn- 
sworn and further examined, should Mr. Lewis desire it. 

I understand that Col. Page will be presented for examination to- 
morrow morning, in relation to the appointment of " Revenue Agents." 
Witnesses have also been subpcened to prove that Mr. Lewis was pre- 
sent when certain fictitious names were written to petitions addressed 
to senators praying for his confirmation. 

Very truly, yours, 
(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

Joseph R. Ingersoll, Esa. 



(Aa.) 

Saturday Evening, Sep, 7, 1850. 
Dear Sir : — 

After devoting two mornings to the examination of witnesses, the 
anonymous opposition has exhibited nothing that ought to affect your 
character or endanger your confirmation. The transaction, on the 
contrary, presents many favourable points. 

1. You promptly met an investigation that did not appear to be 
authorized, rather than delay enquiry or exclude any light. You 
facilitated and hastened the proceedings by every means in your 
power ; and you waived all objections whatever, in general and ia 
detail ; — although " the commission" was in vain called for by the 
Mayor, and the source from which the proceedings arose was de- 
manded by ourselves. 

2. An attempt was made to injure you by a history of two trans- 
actions of business. If everything had been made out to tlie entire 
satisfaction of your enemies in point of fact, it would have amounted 
to this — that two co-partnerships have asserted, (the one for sixteen 
years, and the other for four years,) that you were their debtor, — 
which you have for the same length of time positively denied, and yet 
neither of them has attempted, by suit or otherwise, to make good the 
demand, although both have believed that you were abundantly able 
to pay. One of these alleged creditors also possessed a peculiar 
kind of redress besides the ordinary remedies, as a member with 
yourself of a board of brokers, before which a summary enquiry 
might have been obtained, and, if shown to be a debtor, you must 
have been expelled if you did not pay. 

You have held a settled account and receipt in full, from one of 
these alleged creditors, for sixteen years. Nine years after the date 
of the receipt; and, seven years ago, one of the partners presented to 
the district judge, sitting in bankruptcy, a schedule of effects, under 
oath, in which no claim upon you is to be found. 

3. Several printed recommendations were produced, and proof was 
given to the effect that the signatures, or names subscribed, were 
those of imaginary persons, or that, where there are real persons of 
the name, such known persons did not write them. Wheliier these 



40 

papers were prepared by real or pretended friends, or designing ene- 
mies, or as a mere hoax, is quite immaterial. There is not the least 
reason to suppose that you had anything to do with them. It was 
not asserted by anybody that you ever knew of their existence ; and 
all agree that they bore upon their face such obvious marks of want 
of genuineness, that the commonest observer could not be for a moment 
misled by them. 

4. Witnesses were examined to prove that the number of officers 
appointed by you was more than necessarily great. If so, and you 
have not already dismissed the superfluous incumbents, of whatever 
political character, I presume you will take care that your appoint- 
ments shall be regulated by the exigencies of business. 

I sincerely wish that the case before the Senate may be brought to 
a close, yet I am very sure you have no reason to shrink from further 
investigation. Time enough has elapsed for full enquiry, and it is no 
fault of yours if it has not been made. 

Very truly, yours, 

J. R. INGERSOLL. 
William D. Lewis, Esq. 



(Bb.) 

Philadelphia, Sept. 26, 1850. 
To William D. Lewis, Esa. 

Deah Sir : — 

At a meeting of merchants and business men generally, held at 
the Board of Trade Room, on the 20th inst., for the purpose of adopt- 
ing some suitable mode of expressing appreciation of your worth, and 
gratification at your confirmation as Collector of this Port, it was de- 
termined to tender to you a public dinner, and the undersigned were 
appointed a committee to apprise you of that determination. 

In fulfilling the agreeable duty thus assigned to them, the under- 
signed avail themselves of the occasion to assure you, that, in common 
with a large majority of their fellow-citizens, they have observed, with 
the sincerest satisfaction, your prompt, faithful, intelligent, and ener- 
getic discharge of the public trust confided to you, while, as your 
friends and neighbours, as Philadelphians and townsmen, they con- 
gratulate you cordially on the vindication of your character and con- 
duct by that august body, the Senate of the United States. 

Asking you to name for the proposed dinner the earliest day which 
may suit your convenience, the undersigned beg you to accept the 
assurance of their cordial regard, and are very truly, 

Your friends, 
(Signed) 

Henry Horn, John B. Myers, 

John Rice, P. Brady 

Fredk. Lennig, Thos Allibone, 

Henry White, Jno. Grigg, 

Isaac R. Davis, John Yarrow, 



41 

John Devcrcux, George H. Martin, 

Robert Burton, G. G. VVestcott, 

B. S. Burling, Rob : Ewing, 

Gideon Scull, N.B.Thompson, 

Thomas Wattson, John Mason. 
A. J. Lewis, 



(Cc.) 

Philadelphia, Sept. 30, 1850. 
Gentlemen : — 

I acknowledge, very gratefully, the receipt of your communication 
of the 26th inst., in which you, as the representatives and on behalf 
of our merchants and business men generally, tender me a public 
dinner, in token of the satisfaction they feel at my confirmation by 
the Senate of the United States as Collector of the Customs for this 
District, an appointment with which I was honoured by the late Presi- 
dent, the great and good Zachary Taylor. 

In these two facts, gentlemen, I find sources of pride sufficient to 
satisfy my highest ambition. Indeed, every citizen, as well as myself, 
owes a debt of gratitude to the Senate for its patient investigation of 
the charges so pertinaciously urged against me, and for its impartial 
judgment in discarding them, by so overwhelming a vote, as unsus- 
tained and unworthy of credence ; thus proving that the reputation of 
the humblest among us, when unjustly assailed, is safe in the hands 
of that tribunal. 

But I must not forget how much I am indebted for the gratifying 
result to the unfaltering support of yourselves and those whom you 
repi'esent, my friends and neighbours, whose honour in the late strug- 
gle was so generously identified with my own. 

In declining, therefore, as I do most respectfully, the public mani- 
festation of kindness now proposed, I beg you to accept, for the 
proffer, the sincere thanks of one who, having lived long among you, 
appreciates it at a very high value, and in whose eyes the honours 
and emoluments of office sink into insignificance when compared 
with the vindication of his good name. 

Trusting that the manner in which I shall continue to discharge the 
important public duties devolving on me may be such as to merit a 
continuance of your confidence and that of the government, 
I remain, your friend and fellow-citizen, 

(Signed) Wm. D. Lewis. 

To Messrs John B. Myers, P. Brady, Henry Horn, George H. Mar- 
tin, and others, Committee. 



42 



As connected with Mr. Cooper's agency in obtaining the appoint- 
ment of George Read, and for the purpose of showing the deep inter- 
est he felt in him, the following letters are hereto appended. The 
originals are all in the hand-writing of Mr. Cooper, and form part of 
the general exhibits attached to the testimony taken before Mr. Dun- 
levy. 

It should be borne in mind that the letter to Mr. Read was written 
nearly nine months after he had been appointed. 



Harrisbukg, Dec. 7, 1848. 
His Excellency 

W. F. Johnston, 
Dear Sir ; — 

Sometime in the month of October last, I addressed to your Excel- 
lency a letter, ^respectfully and earnestly urging the appointment of 
Geo. Read, of the Northern Liberties, as Bark Inspector for the City 
and County of Philadelphia. 

Mr, Read is very influential with the working classes in his district, 
and generally throughout the County of Philadelphia. 

He labored most zealously and ardently to secure your election, 
sparing neither time or money to effect that object, so desirable to us 
all. He laboured ^yith equal zeal and effect at the Presidential elec- 
tion ; and the testimony borne by all of our intelligent and active 
friends, in the City and County, is to the effect, that a great share of 
credit is due to George Read for the large vote in his district. 

He is likewise influential with our native fellow-citizens, and a num- 
ber of them have written to me, in his behalf, requesting me to urge 
his appointment upon your Excellency. Mr. William B. Reed and 
many other Whigs, have spoken to me in favour of Mr. George Read, 
asking my good offices with you in his behalf, 

I stated, in my former letter, that his influence and associations are 
with a class of people who have been neglected by the undiscerning 
of those Whigs, who have heretofore had in their power to bestow re- 
wards. The cultivation of this class I am sure you will not neglect. 

Mr, Read is honest, and entirely competent for the discharge of the 
duties of the station for which I have ventured thus earnestly to recom- 
mend him. 

Very respectfully, now and ever, truly yours, 
(Signed) JAMES COOPER. 

*Tlie letter here alluded to I have never seen. W. D. L. 



43 

Harrisbueg, Dec. 7, 1848. 
His Excellency 

W. F. Johnston, 
Dear Sir : — 

George Read and Harman Yerkes are applicants for the office of 
Bark Inspector, and both have rendered important services to the 
party, and such as the undersigned think entitle them to some sub- 
stantial mark of the favour of the party. Assiduous labour in the 
last campaigns is not their only recommendation. They have 
laboured for years, and efFcclively, amongst a class of people whom 
they have been better able to reach than many others who make 
more pretensions to the character of influential men. Hitherto the 
class of Whig labourers to whom one and the other of these gentle- 
men belong have been, we think, too much overlooked in the dis- 
tribution of the few favours which it has been in the power of the 
party to bestow. 

These gentlemen are each the representative of a class ; and we 
do believe are more meritorious, in a political point of view, than 
the great mass of applicants who present themselves to your Excel- 
lency. It is because we believe they are so, and that their appoint- 
ments would add to the strength of the party, that we venture to 
urge them earnestly upon you. Permit us, therefore, to say, 
that we have no other interest in the appointment of either of 
these men than what is dictated by the wish to serve the party, and 
strengthen your hands for the future. You may be assured that their 
appointments will have this effect, and that it is in this view we distin- 
guish them from the ordinary list of applicants, and urge them upon 
you. 

As we have stated in the outset of this note, both these gentlemen 
were applicants for the office of Bark Inspector, but the friends of the 
party, anxious that both should be provided for, have prevailed upon 
them to ask for different situations from your Excellency. We, there- 
fore, now suggest to you the appointment of George' Read, of the 
Northern Liberties, for the appointment of Bark Inspector, and that 
of Harman Yerkes, of the City of Philadelphia, for the office of Beef 
Inspector. 

Very respectfully. 

Your obedient servants and friends, 
(Signed) 

Geo. W. South. 
James Cooper, 

John P. Wetuerill. 



(Private.) 

Washington, Feb. 26, 1850. 
Dear Sir : — 

Your favour of the 23d was duly received. I have said to others 
what I said to you, in Washington, that your appointment was not 



44 

the result of any influence exerted by me, but I have never said I did 
not write a letter recommending you. On the contrary, I have always 
said that you came to Pottsville, solicited and obtained a letter from 
me to Mr. Lewis. Previously to this, Mr. South, and other friends of 
yours, had spoken to me in your favour, recommending you, in high 
terms, for your fidelity and integrity. This I have always said ; 
always adding, too, that you had been recommended and pressed for 
the office of Bark inspector, by such men as Wm. B. Reed, J. Price 
Wetherill, and others equally respectable, during the autumn previous. 
I have stated, also, that I had never heard a word to your disparage- 
ment previously to your appointment as Weigher. And this is true. 
It was only after this that I ever saw or heard of any charge against 
you. After your appointment, as I several times informed you, I re- 
ceived letters almost daily, containing charges against you, — gene- 
rally relating to your testimony before Judge Sharswood's committee. 
Many of these letters were anonymous, and others signed by persons 
I did not know. Some of them contained gross falsehoods, both in 
relation to yourself and Mr. South. On no occasion have I ever said 
a word against you, but, on the contrary, have always expressed my 
conviction that you were a greatly better man than many of those 
who were examined before the above-named committee, at the same 
time with yourself. Instead of assailing, I have always defended 
you. 

Yours, very respectfully, 
(Signed) JAMES COOPER 

George Read, Esq. 



APPENDIX. 



SKETCH OE THE AEGUMENT 



DAVID PAUL BROWN. 



I have but a few words to say, and even those few, will be 
directed entirely to what may be called the summing up of this case. 

I respectfully suggest, that the evidence, so far from sustaining the 
charges of the complainants, distinctly negatives them all, notwith- 
standing the very men who have contributed to these charges, have 
offered themselves, or been called upon, to support them. The blow 
that was intended for the respondent, has recoiled upon his assailants. 
They have virtually been convicted together with others, of a most 
anomalous conspiracy, to elevate or improve their own condition, by 
plotting the ruin of the very man from whom they derived their 
offices, and their bread. They not only unite themselves with the 
avowed and covert enemies of the collector, but basely attempt 
seducing his friends and dependents, from their allegiance. 

What other interpretation could be given to the connexion between 
Brady and Zane with each other, and with Cooper, Gibbons, Thorne, 
and M'Grath? What other construction can be placed upon Zane's 
and Brady's conversation with Kelley, with Newell, (a dismissed in- 
spector,) and with various other persons, whose names have been 
elicited in the progress of this investigation, all hostile to the Collector 
of the Port? Why was it that Brady induced persons to call meet- 
ings in his behalf, signed names to the call without authority, con- 
nived at the appointment of committees, many of whom now appear 
here as complainants, yet have not a word to say in support of their 
complaint? Why was it Zane and Brady forwarded documents to 
Washington clandestinely, through Mr. Gibbons and others, designed 
to stab the collector in the dark ? Why was it that Brady, (innocent, 



46 

injured man,) through the agency of Nathan Sergeant, and the aid of 
Wnelpper, Stokes, and others, attempted to procure from the Honor- 
able and unsuspecting Secretary of the Treasury, the appointment 
of a gentleman, as commissioner, to preside over this investigation, 
whose mind they had previously endeavoured to imbue with the pre- 
judices of their own ? These men have no pretensions to be saints, 
but that they have been martyrs — martyrs, however, be it remembered, 
not for their virtues, but for their vices. 

The charges which we are called upon to answer, after several 
attempted modifications on the part of the complainants, are as fol- 
lows : — 

1st. It is charged that the Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, is 
guilty of a want of fidelity to the government, and to the character of 
the present national administration, by retaining, in the office of 
weigh-master, a person whom he has ahvays known to be incompetent 
for the proper performance of the duties of said office, and who stands 
charged with perjury on the Legislative Records of Pennsylvania, a 
fact well known to the Collector at the time he appointed him to said 
office. 

2dly. It is charged, that the Collector and Surveyor of the Port of 
Philadelphia were instrumental in procuring fictitious signatures to 
certain printed letters, addressed to members of the Senate of the 
United States, urging the confirmation of said Collector, whose name 
was then before the Senate, and that the said signatures were obtained 
through the weigh-master, acting in the matter with theii knowledge 
and consent ; and that said letters were forwarded as genuine letters 
to certain senators by the said Collector and Surveyor of the Port of 
Philadelphia. 

3d[y. It is charged, that the Collector and Surveyor of the Port of 
Philadelphia, while holding their present respective positions, have been 
guilty of other corrupt and immoral acts, unbecoming their stations as 
officers of the Federal Government, and calculated to reflect dishonour 
upon the national administration. 

The last charge is abandoned, or not attempted to be sustained, so 
that the first and second only remain. 

The first charge is a want of fidelity in the Collector, " by retaining 
the weigh-master, whom he has ahvays known to be incompetent to 
the perlbrmance of his duties, and who stands charged with perjury 
on the Legislative Records of Pennsylvania, a fact well-known to the 
Collector at the time of his appointment as weigh-master." 

To answer these charges, in the proper order, it is sufficient to say, 
that no man is to be deprived of his franchise or right, by charges 
preferred by legislative committees, in time of high parly excitement 
or great popular prejudice and clamour. If he were, some of the best 
men of the community, would be lost to the community. It is true, 
that Mr. Lewis knew of the charges against Read, as asserted by the 
complainants some six or seven years ago, but he never believed ihem, 
and he was still less inclined to believe them after the repealed and 
urgent recommendations of Mr. Cooper and his friends, and the still 



47 

higher applications of some of the most respectable and influenlial 
citizens of this community, with most of which the Treasury Depart- 
ment has been furnished. 

As to Mr. Read's incompetency to fulfil the duties of his office, he 
has given abundant proofs to the contrary, since he has held the 
office ; and, upon the evidence, has suffered nothing in comparison 
with any of his predecessors; and he has exhibited testimonials of his 
entire competency and ability, from sources the most satisfactory and 
responsible: — Merchants, whose dealings led them into perfect fami- 
liarity with the office of weigher, and who, therefore, were competent 
to decide upon the fidelity and efficiency of the incumbent. 

The 2d charge, or that which relates to fictitious signatures, the 
evidence does not sustain, but, so far as it is important, expressly 
negatives. As to Alburger and his men, it is not pretended that we 
are answerable for their acts unless traced to our knouledge. Where- 
as, it is perfectly apparent, according to the testimony of Trout and 
others, that, so far from having been authurized by Read to affix such 
names, they were careful to avoid letting him know that it had ever 
been done, and went so far as to guard against his apjiroach when 
engaged in this reprehensible business. It further appears, that, upon 
one or two occasions, when doubtful signatures were appended to cir- 
culars. Read himself condemned them and tore them up. How it was 
that Brady was seized with such holy horror in discovering that these 
same memorials were signed by the same hand, while he states that 
he, himself, had been engaged in a similar operation, it is not very 
easy to imagine, consistently with his having told the truth. Nor is 
another portion of his statement, (entirely unsupported and directly 
contrad'ioted,) that he would not swear to what was false, but would 
put himself beyond the possibility of being called upon to tell the 
truth, entitied to much more regard for either probability or consis- 
tency. In addition to this, however, most, if not all, of these state- 
ments are directly denied and disjiroved. 

Again. — Why is it that Brady tells South that he signed but five or 
six names, and those upon authority. Then tells M'Grath, that he 
had signed more. — Offers to swear he had not so told M'Grath. 
Then refuses to swear, as " he would not like to make his friend Tom 
M'Grath appear to Ui perjured." Is this course of conduct reconcila- 
ble with any other view \han that of his having by treachery involved 
himself in falsehood, from which extrication was impossible. Fisler, 
Murray, Robinson, Kelley, .vith full opportunity, never saw any such 
names signed in the presence of Read. Robinson says, he saw Zane 
and Brady sign some in Read's absence ; and P'isler utterly denies 
having signed any such names himself, or having been directed to 
sign by Read, or ever hearing Read direct any one else to sign them, 
or knowing that such names were signed by a^iyhody. 

If Zane signed them, he has denied it under his affidavit. If Brady 
signed them, he never confessed it, except to M'Grath, who used the 
confession to frustrate Mr. Lewis's appointment : — And then again, 
after Lewis's confirmation, when Brady was in immediate apprehen- 



48 

sion of expulsion, and when the confession was intended to deter Mr* 
Lewis from bringing him to condign punishment. If he signed them> 
it was without the knowledge of Read or Lewis, and he only refused 
to confess because he knew, from South and others, that Mr. Lewis 
had determined to " probe the matter," and discharge all who were 
concerned in it. Brady's own evidence was sufficient against him- 
self, but not sufficient against others. Brady, therefore, was dis- 
missed, and the others retained. Brady was self-convicted. — M'Grath 
swore Brady told him this, Brady offered to swear he " had not ,•" 
was told to the teeth by M'Grath that he had ; then refused to swear 
to his denials. Now, what could be plainer (whether true or false,) 
than that he had made these statements, which were intended to be 
used against his benefactor, through the agency of M'Grath, (whose 
son had been refused a clerkship in the Custom House,) and the hos- 
tility of Mr. Cooper, who claimed to make te7i appointments in the 
Custom House, and was very properly defeated in his object. 

Since the above hasty and general views of the scrambling testi- 
mony for the complainants, I have been furnished by Mr. Gibbons 
(after some difficulty in obtaining it,) with what he calls his state- 
ment, in reply to Mr. Lewis's nan-ative. It requires but little notice, 
and that little it shall receive. After what appears in evidence, I have 
almost lost sight of Mr. Gibbons, as the counsel in this cause, as he 
has presented himself rather in the character of a party ; and as he 
now, after the last stage of the commission, o^ers himself in the shape 
of a witness, in support of charges which clearly originated partly with 
himself. 

In the precious document to which I refer, he commences, by re- 
marking, that, in the narrative of Mr. Lewis, there is no denial of the 
charges preferred. In the first place, I say this is not so. The nar- 
rative exhibits clearly the character of the confederacy, and of the 
confederates, originating these charges ; the motives by which they 
were impelled, and the ohjects which they had in view ; implying a 
denial so clearly to every ingenuous mind, as to obviate the necessity 
for my doing more than simply referring to th<? statement itself. 
Further, this was merely Mr. Lewis's narrative of events, shedding a 
collateral light upon the subject of investigation. But, in addition to 
this, the evidence had entirely failed to establish any one of the 
charges ; although the complainants were al-'owed to call Mr. George 
Read, one of the parties accused, to aiJ them in their difficulty. 
There was literally nothing to deny, so far as the evidence was con- 
cerned, and Mr. Lewis had too much self respect to imitate the ex- 
ample of his adversaries, by introducing into his narrative what the 
evidence clearly did not demand, and what no man that knew him^ 
and that knew his accusers, would ever require. He has no disposi- 
tion to withdraw, or to modify that which he has written for the very 
reason suggested by Mr. Gibbons, that " it was prepared with delibe- 
ration, and he weighed every word of it before it was presented." As 
to the Quarter Sessions Argument, that, because he had not denied 
the charges, he admitted them, it would be comfortable doctrine in all 



49 

desperate proceedings, and with all desperate men, by whonn they may 
have been instituted ; but it has certainly nothing but its novelty to 
recommend it. 

As to the evidence adduced in support of the first specification and 
its conclusiveness of character, no answer is required beyond what I 
have already said. I merely, therefore, ask the attention of the de- 
partment to the evidence from which Mr. Gibbons draws his conclu- 
sions. If the fact of " six or seven thousand dollars passing 
through the weigher's hands annually," is to be an argument against 
him, I should think that the fact of his accounts never having been 
impeached, and having been always made up in strict accordance 
with Treasury instructions ; together with the fact that, while Trea- 
surer of the County of Philadelphia for years, (where sixty or seventy 
thousand dollars annually were subject to his disposal,) he always 
proved faithful to his duty and his trust, would assuredly make 
largely in hxs, favour ; to say nothing of other posts of high responsi- 
bility held by him, or of the testimonials exhibited by him upon the 
present occasion, of which any man might well be proud. 

But, it is said, the weigh-master was examined in a case in Harris- 
burg, in which Mr. Lewis was concerned. He never was examined 
in any cause in which Mr. Lewis was concerned, (excepting the pre- 
sent). He was examined in a case in which Mr. Lewis was a wit- 
ness ; they being at the time, and for years after, perfect strangers to 
each other. And it is, therefore, of course not true, as is alleged, that 
Mr. Lewis and Mr. Read were on terms of the closest intimacy ; nor 
has it been shown, nor is it true, that fictitious names were ever 
obtained through the instrumentality of Read, or with the approbation 
or knowledge of the Collector or Surveyor ; nor is it true, as is 
stated, that Mr. Ellmaker shows, or that any one else shows, " that 
Mr. Lewis had full knowledge of the fictitious signatures prior to his 
confirmation, and that he, (Lewis,) had told Ellmaker that the fact 
could be proved by Brady ;" nor is it true that any " deceptive letters 
to General Shields, in favour of Mr. Lewis's confirmation," were ever 
obtained through the agency of Read or any one else. 

As to the refusal to produce the correspondence with Mr. Ellmaker, 
during the pendency of the Collector's confirmation, upon that corres- 
pondence being called for by the complainants, I have only to say, 
that every call of this character was freely and fully met by Mr. 
Lewis, as will appear by the report ; and when the call in question 
was made, Mr. Lewis tendered an immediate compliance with it, pro- 
vided the documents traced to Mr. Gibbons, (and which he had been 
noticed to produce, and had refused,) should be forthcoming. And 
the correspondence now, and at all times, is at the control of the de- 
partment. But when parties and counsel are disposed to get all they 
can, while they withhold all they have, I must be pardoned for say- 
ing, that they have no right to complain if they should be disappointed 
by the respondents visiting upon them a portion of their own tactics. 

As to Mr. M'Michael's refusing to obey the subpcena issued to him, 
by the direction of the Commissioner, Mr. Lewis expressly disclaims 

4 



50 

having anything to do with it, and so far from entertaining any desire 
to avoid the testimony of Mr. M'Michael, he would have much pre- 
ferred his examination. The complainants began with suspicion, and 
their eyes grow larger the further they proceed. They now suspect 
everybody but themselves. They adopt Brady as their Magnus 
Apollo — their standard of perfection. Whoever is above him, has his 
head lopt off, and, whoever is below him, (if any such there be in one 
sense,) is either stretched to his model proportions, or alleged to be 
diminutive or utterly deformed. 

I have not time to go over the numerous errors and fallacies of 
Mr. Gibbons's statement. I have noticed the most prominent. He 
has misunderstood some of the facts, misrepresented others, suggested 
many that never existed, and misapplied all. And as he seems to 
think an answer will not do without a positive denial, I deny, in behalf 
of Mr. Lewis, every conclusion he has drawn. 

As to Mr. Gibbons's own defence, which I agree is a difficult matter, 
and the defence of his friend, Mr. Cooper, which is still more difficult ; 
the results are still more " lame and impotent." He says, Mr, Lewis 
charges him with being connected with those who have preferred these 
charges. He is not only accused of it, but it is proved against 
him, and, to cap the climax and use his own argument, he does not 
deny it. When the counsel for Mr. Lewis objects to testimony offered 
by Mr. Gibbons, which testimony was clearly irregular, and so decided 
to be, and which was believed to be offered merely that the offer might 
appear upon the report, the ingenious counsel for the complainants 
serioushj asks, why such testimony was objected to, if the respondent 
thought the offer could not be sustained ? We answer, because it was 
illegal and impertinent, whether sustainable or not. The report of the 
Commissioner was not designed to be a vehicle for slander, in order 
that the vindictiveness of Mr. Gibbons, or Mr. Cooper, or Mr. Brady, 
might be gratified ; and, allow me here to say, once for all, and I 
vouch the Commissioner for the correctness of the remark, that there 
never was more frank, manly, and liberal deportment, in encountering 
any charge, than that which was exhibited by the respondents in this 
case. Whatever was objected to, was objected to by me, in my best 
judgment, and against the will and request of my clients ; and, I re- 
gret to say, that, in some instances, I permitted the wishes of Mr. 
Lewis to be gratified, even at the sacrifice of his just and legal rights. 
With some adversaries, I know this is a dangerous course, as they are 
always inclined from every concession to increase in the presumption 
of their demands. 

As to Mr. Gibbons having been open and honest and cordial, in his 
opposition to the Collector, perhaps the less that is said upon that sub- 
ject the better. The department can readily decide upon the evidence 
itself, without any further light from me. If it be open, honest, and 
cordial, to stab in the back ; to write clandestine letters to the injury 
of a fellow man ; to give those letters to confederates to be copied and 
published as their own ; to reclaim the originals, and either destroy 
them, or withhold them, when demanded ; to forward to the Executive 



51 

of the United States unfounded statenaents forZane and other subordi- 
nates ; to write a letter to the Surveyor for Brad)-, and to permit it to be 
published without ever having been sent to its address; to be the very- 
hand and lungs of the whole plot, while Mr. Cooper was the heart of it, 
and Brady, Zane, Woclpper, and others, its outward limbs and flourish- 
es ; — If, I say, all this bo open, honest, and cordial, why then such has 
been the opposition of Mr. Gibbons to the Collector ! — and may Heaven 
protect me from all such openness, honesty, and cordiality. 

Whether Mr, Gibbons' opposition was inspired by personal feeling, 
or not; whether he had a friend or candidate to urge for the Collec- 
tor's post, or not, matters but little. It is just the same thing, whether 
it was his own quarrel, or whether he adopted or endorsed the quarrel 
of Mr. Cooper, arising out of his disappointment in not having been 
permitted (modest request,) to make ten of the best appointments in 
the customs. And, I must confess, that I am not altogether satisfied, 
judo-ing from the correspondence appended to Mr. Lewis's narrative, 
that Mr. Gibbons himself did not experience some little pique, when 
in imitation of his great exemplar, having attempted to enforce upon 
the Collector one Jimmey O'Rourke, (at first with ticdve children, 
and the next day with eighty) that his overweening and unjust demands 
met with no better success. 

As to the notion, that Mr. Lewis should dismiss Read, because Read 
was appointed at Cooper's instance, and Cooper has since opposed 
Lewis, it is certainly a strange measure of justice to flog one who is 
innocent for the offence or misconduct of another. It may meet Mr. 
Gibbons' and Mr. Cooper's views of " moral and political grounds," 
but it can hardly receive the approbation of a plain man, who makes 
no pretension to their refined sense of morality and politics. 

In the conclusion of the statement to which these remarks refer, 
Mr. Gibbons grows chivalric, not to say, Quixotic. He feels at 
liberty to deny, on behalf of Mr. Cooper, the truth of our charges ; 
and challenges the author to the proof. It is astonishing, that Mr. 
Gibbons should resort to a challenge in such a case ; it is always the 
worst resort, and should, therefore, be the last. We have already 
proved the charges, and the challenge comes too late, after one of the 
parties to the quarrel is virtually dead and buried. 

In relation to the charge of betting, or encouraging betting, Mr. 
Lewis scorns it almost too much to deny it. But, as it seems nothing 
will satisfy the complainant's counsel but a flat denial, Mr. Lewis, 
therefore, emphatically declares the assertion to be utterly unfounded 
and untrue, in all its branches and bearings. Yet, Mr. Gibbons says 
he is prepared to prove it. Why, then, did he not prefer it to the 
department ? Was there ever a more scandalous course of malignant 
industry than this ? Preferring accusations piece-meal, — collecting 
the fragments of every defeat to furnish a renewal of the fight, — to 
enjoy a sort of Cabalistic dance, invented by these great magicians, 
and then, I suppose, in the end, to call upon the United States to pay 
the piper. 

Amidst various avocations, I have thus run hastily and imperfectly 



52 

over these charges, some of the characteristics of the evidence, 
the narrative of Mr. Lewis, and the statement of Mr. Gibbons; A 
mere condensation of the testimony would, perhaps have answered 
every purpose, but, that, neither time nor opportunity would allow. 
I conclude, therefore, merely by asking attention to this extraordi- 
nary feature in the present proceeding. The accnscrs, instead of 
supporting their accusations, have actually placed themselves in the 
condition of defendants, and have, at the same time that they have 
failed to establish even an impropriety against their intended vic- 
tims, furnished abundant and conclusive evidence of their own 
treachery and guilt. 

■ . DAVID PAUL BROWN, 

' ^ Feb. 1, 1851. 

Pro Respondents. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



[Mr. Gibbons having published, in his pamphlet, parts of the subjoined 
Letter, the whole of it is here given.] 

Custom House, Philadelphia, 
Collector's OfEce, Nov. 11th, 1850. 
Sir,— 

Your communication of the 8th inst. postmarked the 9th, (Satm- 
day), reached me this morning, in which my attention is called to 
certain allegations, affecting some of the officers of the customs of 
this District, in a published "Card," signed Francis E. Brady, a 
deputy weigher lately removed by me, and an explanation of the 
. matter requested. 

In order that you may fully understand the subject, I must, at 
the risk of proving tedious, enter into considerable detail. 

Some time last summer complaints were made of negligence on 
the part of the weighers, in not giving to their business proper 
dispatch, and on calling upon Mr. Eead, the chief weigher for the 
application of a prompt remedy, he stated that he had on several 
occasions remonstrated with Mr. Brady, who was frequently absent 
from his scales for hours, leaving one of the laborers to keep the 
account of goods weighed which should have been kept by him ; 
and in fact several of his small cargo books so kept have recently 
been exhibited to me. The Surveyor, therefore, at Mr. Read's re- 
quest, addressed to him an official note, to be exhibited to his depu- 
ties, requiring, in general terms, greater attention in his Department. 
Since that period it would seem that Mr. Brady and Mr. Eead 
have not been upon very friendly terms. 

During the long pendency of my nomination in the Senate, 
when every species of demerit was ascribed to me by my enemies 
and a portion of the disappointed applicants for office, I was called 
on by Morton McMichael, Esq., probably about the latter end of 
August, who said he had something that concerned me, of a very 
grave character, to communicate. He then informed me that Mr. 
Brady had called on him and told him that certain printed papers 
to be addressed to Whig Senators vouching for my political ortho- 
doxy had been taken to the Weigher's office (which it is proper to 
inform you is on the wharf about half a mile from the Custom 
House) by Mr. Read, and that, by his direction and under his threats, 
the whole department had been engaged for months in signing 
them with the names of citizens and forwarding; them to Washins:- 



54 

ton. Mr. McMichael said that if this were established he thought 
it would defeat my contirmation, and that it ought to be at once 
looked into. I replied that I could not believe Brady's story, if it 
were only on account of the extreme folly, to say nothing of the 
depravity, of such a proceeding by respectable men ; that it could 
not affect the question of my confirmation because, if it should turn 
out to be true, I should forthwith remove every one concerned, 
so that my innocence and ignorance of the subject might not be 
deemed doubtful, adding that the matter should be forthwith inves- 
tigated. 

I immediately sent for the Chief Weigher, George Read, and 
told him what I had heard ; he denied it in the most distinct and 
peremptory terms : said that Brady was in daily communication with 
Mr. Thomas McGrath, a devoted friend of Senator Cooper, and 
that Lane Schofield, the principal agent of the gamblers who had 
been betting on my rejection and who had boasted that he had 
wagered nine thousand dollars on it, and wished to make it ten, 
had been seen a good deal with Mr. Brady lately, and no doubt 
had tampered with him. The idea suggested itself to my mind 
that Brady's announcement to Mr. McMichael was a preparatory 
step to his making an affidavit, to be used against me, to the circum- 
stances he had stated, in order to give his affidavit additional force. 
But I warned Mr. Read of the folly of attempting to deceive me 
(of which, however, I had no suspicion) if what Mr. Brady said 
was true, as, if so, it would unquestionably be revealed, and that 
he must know that no public officer could be sustained who would 
sanction such conduct in his subordinates. He reiterated in the 
most solemn manner, his denial of any knowledge of, or partici- 
pancy in, the alleged transactions. 

Very soon after this I was informed that Mr. Cooper expected to 
prove those forgeries through Francis E. Brady, and my connection 
with them, and that, at Mr. Cooper's request, a week's delay in 
my case was granted by the Senate for that purpose, and to enable 
him to adduce other testimony to my disparagement. Accordingly, 
on the 6th of September, Charles Gibbons, Esqr. and Gen'l. Peter 
Sken Smith appeared at the Mayor's office to commence the ex- 
amination of witnesses. 1 appeared there also, accompanied by 
my friend the Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll as my volunteer counsel. 
The names of a few witnesses whom it was intended to examine 
were furnished me by Mr. Gibbons, but not those of any person in 
the Weigher'' s department. Near the close of the second and last 
day's proceedings a police officer put in an affidavit that he had served 
subpoenas on the Weighers, or some of them, to attend this exami- 
nation. None of them had come. No previous intimation had been 
given to me that their presence would be required or they should 
have been there. Perceiving; the bearino; of this movement, I im- 
mediately dispatched a messenger in search of them, and in a short 
time Mr. Read, the chief Weigher, and Chas. H. Fisler, the first 
Deputy, arrived. The latter was examined in extenso, as were many 



55 

other witnesses, and the whole testimony laid, by Mr. Cooper, before 
the Senate. Mr. Gibbons declined examining Mr. Read, whose 
statement to me, already noticed, Mr. Fisler's testimony fully con- 
firmed. I was told, when I returned to the Custom House, that two 
of the other deputies were on their way to the Mayor's office when 
the proceedings were closed. 

While at Washington, soon after, I learned that Mr. Thomas 
McGrath had made oath that Mr. Brady had told him of forgeries 
having been committed in the Weigher's office to the papers above 
alluded to. He was called upon at my instance, and denied having 
done so. Circumstances, however, which subsequently transpired, 
impressed upon my mind the belief that he had. On my return 
from Washington after my confirmation, and when I thought the 
proper time had arrived, I had an interview with the other two 
deputy Weighers, John E. Murray and Joel Zane, and enquired of 
them whether any such signing of names as I had been told Mr. 
Brady had^ reported had taken place in the Weigher's office, and if 
so, under what circumstances, and to what extent. I beg you to 
observe that this was the first time I had spoken with either of the 
deputies on this subject. 

Mr. Murray told me that all he knew of any such signing, and 
all the agency he had in it, was that he had written two or at most 
three names, to one of the papers, of persons who he was told wished 
them placed there. Mr. Zane informed me that all he knew upon 
the subject was that he had in like manner written the names of 
four, possibly of six, persons who had authorized him to sign for 
them, but that he had obtained to the papers the signatures of at 
least five hundred persons whom he had asked to sign. Both stated 
that they had no knowledge of the other persons employed in the 
office having written names to papers of any kind, or having been 
required by the chief Weigher to do so. I told them it was indis- 
pensable that I should know the truth, and earnestly urged them to 
conceal nothing. They assured me that they had told me all they 
knew. 

I had thus the deliberate statements, made under cautionary 
warnings, of Mr. Read the chief Weigher, and of Messrs. Murray 
and Zane, two of the deputies, who afterwards reiterated to the 
Surveyor their statements to me, and the oath, when examined 
before the Mayor, of Chas. H. Fisler the first Deputy, who has ful- 
filled the duties of his present office for thirteen years, and has always, 
as I am informed, been esteemed a prompt, exact, efficient, and 
exemplary officer, that Brady's assertions were false. I believe, 
moreover, that it is susceptible of proof that Brady said he had Mr. 
Senator Cooper's promise that if I were confirmed and he removed 
he should have a better place at Washington, and everything tended 
to convince me that I had been imposed upon in appointing him, 
and that he was unworthy of his place. 

It was under the circumstances I have related that Mr. Brady 
was removed. I removed him expecting, nay threatened, with the 



56 

publication of just such a "Card" as he has given to the world, 
but feeling no apprehension of its injuring me. Here I was dis- 
posed to let the matter rest, believing it to be generally well under- 
stood by our public ; but still, deeming it probable that you might 
expect a refutation of Brady's statements, I called upon the per- 
sons implicated to clear their skirts of his charges in a formal 
manner. My call has been answered by the Weigher and two of 
his deputies in the form of affidavits, transmitted herewith. Mr. 
Zane has not yet answered the call. His statement shall be for- 
warded as soon as received. 

I remain, most respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed,) WM. D. LEWIS, 

Collector. 
Hon. Thomas Corwin, 
Secretary of the Treasury, 
Washington, D. C. 



The following is the letter of Mr. Gibbons to the President, 
alluded to towards the close of the preceding "Narkative," a 
copy of which was received from Washington, on application to 
the proper Department. 

Copies of the letter of Mr. Cooper to the President, and its 
enclosures, were also furnished in reply to a similar application, 
and are inserted as forming part of the history of this case. 



MR. GIBBONS TO THE PRESIDENT. 

Philadelphia, Nov'r. 13, 1850. 
Dear Sir — 

It is no more than my duty as a citizen and a friend of the Na- 
tional Administration, to place in your hands the enclosed copy of 
a deposition of the chief clerk in the Weigher's department of the 
Custom House at this port. The original is in my possession, and is 
at your service. It was taken before the Mayor of Philadelphia, to 
be used in the Senate on the question of the confirmation of Mr. 
LeAvis as Collector for this district. I attended to the taking of this 
and other depositions, in pursuance of an informal agreement among 
Senators, made in executive session. 

The main object, in examining Mr. Fisler, was to prove a charge 
which had been made in the Senate that certain fictitious names had 
been signed in the Weigher's office to printed circulars addressed to 
Senators, asking for the confirmation of Mr. Lewis. I questioned 
the witness particularly on that point, but he denied it positively; 
and his answers being all negative, neither they nor my questions 



57 

were written down. There is no difficulty now in proving that he 
swore falsely. 

You will observe a note at the foot of the deposition, that George 
Read, the principal weigher, was present, and that I waived his ex- 
amination. This was made at the request of Mr. Lewis. I declin- 
ed to examine him because of his infamous character, which was 
known to no man better than to Mr. Lewis. I had reason to be- 
lieve that he was prepared to swear to anything which the Collector 
required, without any regard whatever to the truth. 

Read is a man who does not know the letters of the alphabet. 
He can write his own name, but nothing more. All the returns 
which he makes to the Department are sworn to by him, although 
he is utterly incapable of reading them, and never knows what they 
contain. The money which he draws from the Collector's depart- 
ment, to defray the contingent and other expenses of the Weigher's 
office, is never properly accounted for — he presents no vouchers for 
its disbursement. I am told that it amounts to some $20,000 a year, 
independent of salaries, and the only evidence that it is>xpended 
at all in the public service, is his unsupported oath, which no jury 
of honest men in this county would believe. During the'examina- 
tion of Fisler Mr. Lewis was present with his counsel, Mr. Jos. R. 
Ingersoll. He heard the whole of Fisler's testimony, and so far as 
it went to induce the impression that Read was in any respect a 
suitable and competent officer, Mr. Lewis, of his own knowledge, 
kneic that it was utterly false, and was intended to deceive the Senate. 

I understand that Mr. Lewis justifies the appointment of Mr. Read 
on the ground that he was strongly recommended by the late Sec- 
retary of the Treasury. If this were true, I submit that it is no jus- 
tification. The Secretary of the Treasury cannot be presumed to 
have known the character of the man, whereas, Mr. Lewis had 
known him for some lo or 20 years. In 184-2 they were both ex- 
amined before a committee of our Legislature, in relation to some 
serious charges of corruption and bribery in which both were im- 
plicated, and by means of which certain legislation was procured 
for the Bank of the United States, the Girard Bank, of which Mr. 
Lewis was Cashier, and some others. Read perjured himself, was 
detected and exposed. Mr. Lewis was guilty only of a very defec- 
tive memory. The Committee, in their report, say, among other 
things, that " George Read was one of the paid agents of the Bank, 
" although he does not seem to have been trusted with money by the 
" others, in which, undoubtedly, they showed their discernment and 
" discretion. ****** 

" Read is an extremely illiterate man, being unable to read or 
"write axcept his own name. He was therefore obliged to conduct 
" his correspondence through the medium of an amanuensis. * 
" * * He explained his letters by the bold and unblush- 

"ing assertion that they were all mere fabrications, intended for the 
" purpose of extorting money from the Bank. This witness is self- 
" convicted of fraud and perjury." 



58 

Mr. George Soulh was also a prominent actor in the matters re- 
ferred to in the report. His testimony was also taken, and we may- 
infer from the language of the Committee, that in their opinion, he 
was as great a rogue as any of the persons implicated. 

These facts were all well known to Mr. Lewis when he appoint- 
ed Read to office. He has been suificiently adroit to satisfy his 
friends here that he made the appointment with great reluctance to 
gratify Mr. Meredith. But if the truth is ever known, it will be 
found that Read had demanded the office, and Lewis gave it to pre- 
vent unpleasant disclosures. Mr. Meredith never recommended 
Read, and did not suggest his appointment. On the contrary, Mr. 
Lewis feared that the Secretary of the Treasury would not confirm 
such a nomination ; and he took the precaution to send Mr. South 
and one or two others, to Washington, to confer with the Secreta- 
ry on the subject. The result of that conference was that Mr. Me- 
redith, not for a moment suspecting that this was the George Read 
whose character was so infamous, said to South and his colleagues, 
that of course he would confirm whatever nominations or appoint- 
ments the Collector saw proper to make. This result was commu- 
nicated to Mr. Lewis by telegraph, and Read was instantly appoint- 
ed. I have reason to believe that Mr. Meredith will confirm this 
statement of the case. It is not pretended that Lewis ever commu- 
nicated to him his knowledge of Read^s character^ as it was his du- 
ty to do, or his knowledge of the fact that he could neither read nor 
write. 

What must be thought of the fidelity of a public officer who, with 
a full knowledge of the character of George Read, appoints him to 
a responsible post where he may defraud the government at plea- 
sure \ And in what estimation can you hold him, when he retains 
as the Chief Clerk, who prepares all the returns of the Weigher's 
office to the Department, a man who committed deliberate perjury 
in his presence, with his full knowledge and apparent approbation % 

In regard to the fictitious signatures referred to, there is much 
more to be said than I feel willing to trouble you with now. Mr. 
Brady's statement of this transaction has probably met your eye. 
I have known him for many years. He was an active Whig when 
Mr. Lewis was opposed to us, and is a man of good character in 
whose word 1 have confidence. Since the appearance of his card, 
great efforts have been made by Mr. Lewis and Mr. Norris, not to 
ascertain the truth of his charges, (for that they well knew,) but to 
contradict them. Mr. Joel Zane, one of the deputy weighers, was 
called on by Mr. Norris, the Surveyor of the Port, some days after 
the card of Mr. Brady was published, with a contradictory state- 
ment in ^/ie /m;icZ wrifmg 0/ FwZer. Mr. Norris requested him to 
sign it, which Zane refused to do, asserting it to be false. He was 
afterwards sent for by the Collector himself, ivho presented the same 
statement to him, and demanded to know why he could not sign it. 
Mr. Zane stated his objections, as I understand, and confirmed Mr. 
Brady's allegations. There the matter rested until the date of Mr. 



59 

Lewis' note to Zane/a copy of which appears at the end of ihe en- 
closed affidavit. Zane prepared a draft of the affidavit which he 
proposed to make, and submitted it to Mr. Lewis yesterday, who 
suggested to him that he should so modify it as to represent that, 
when Read presented the Directory to Brady, and told liim to copy 
the names from it, he spoke* and acted " in a jocose manner.'''' I 
mention this fact only to show that Mr. Lewis endeavors to protect 
Read as muck as possible in this dishonorable proceeding. It is pro- 
per that 1 should say, in this connection, that, I did not know that 
Zane had been applied to by Mr. Lewis for this affidavit, until yes- 
terday, when he called at my office and exhibited to me the draft 
which he had prepared, with the modifications suggested by Mr. 
Lewis. He executed the affidavit in duplicate, and placed in my 
hands the enclosed, with permission to forward it to you. 

That Read acted under the instructions of Mr. Lewis in procur- 
ing the fictitious names to the letters, I have not the slightest doubt. 
The intercourse between them since Read's appointment has been 
intimate and confidential 5 and although the charges in relation to 
this transaction were made several months ago, and some of ike iden- 
tical letters with the fictitious names attached were produced before 
the Mayor during the examination referred to, and were handled and 
examined by Jlr. Lewis in my presence, he permitted the matter to 
pass in silence until it was fully exposed by the publication of Bra- 
dy's card, and the attention of the Department had been directed to 
it. 

It is some consolation to know, that Lewis, Read, Norris and Fis- 
ler, all received their political and moral training in the Loco-foco 
school. The best offices at the disposal of Lewis are filled with our 
political opponents. No party can strengthen itself with such ma- 
terials as these, and no Whig Administration is safe with such men 
in office. I trust that my motives in making this communication 
will be properly appreciated. 
I have honor to be. 

With great respect, your ob't. serv't. 

CH: GIBBONS. 
His Excellency, 

Millard Fillmore, 

President of the United States. 



* I understand that Mr. Murray has also made an affidavit in re- 
lation to this matter, which is so drawn as not to implicate Read. 
The form of the affidavit was prepared by Mr. Lewis, and it docs not 
present a full statement of the facts. 



60 



HON. JAMES COOPER TO THE PRESIDENT. 

Washington, Dec. 26, 1850. 
To His Excellency, Millard Fillmore, President of the U. States. 
Sir,— 

At the interview with which you honored me some days ago, 
on the subject of the investigation ordered at Philadelphia, I under- 
stood that the instructions of the Commissioner would be so modi- 
fied and enlarged as to allow him to enquire, at least, into such of 
the charges as had been distinctly preferred against the Collector 
and other officers in the Custom House. But from the enclosed 
letter, addressed by Mr. Dunlevy to Mr. Gibbons, who is acting as 
counsel for the Committee who submitted the charges, I find I was 
mistaken, and that, "no matters which were before the Senate and 
fully investigated, pending the question of Mr. Lewis' confirma- 
tion," will be inquired into. All the charges preferred, (and a 
number of others) were either directly or incidentally before the 
Senate ; but it cannot be said with truth that any of them were 
fully investigated. Process to examine witnesses, although asked 
for, was denied. An attempt was indeed made to prove some of 
the facts ; but it was ineffectual, some of the witnesses absenting 
themselves, while others were not to be found. The charges which 
were "fully investigated" were altogether different from those sub- 
mitted. If, therefore, everything " before the Senate," and which 
it might have more fully investigated, be taken to have been so done, 
the investigation may as well cease at once ; nothing will result 
from it but disappointment and mischief, and, instead of allaying 
it will increase the excitement which prevails. 

It seems to me, however, that there could not be a fitter subject 
of inquiry than that involved in the charge, that the Collector im- 
posed on the Senate, by forged representations of his integrity and 
fitness, that he keeps in office those of his subordinates who, with 
his consent if not by his direction, were the instruments of such 
imposition, and that these agents, who occupy important and re- 
sponsible offices, are deficient, some of them at least, in the most 
ordinary requisites of common business men — the principal of them 
being neither able to read or write. 

In this matter I have taken no part, beyond representing to your 
Excellency, and the Secretary of the Treasury, the wishes of the 
respectable gentlemen who have moved in the matter, and who are 
my constituents, nor shall I trouble myself further in regard to it, 
except to state, that it seems to me, the appointing and keeping in 
office such men as Read and Fisler, who are alleged to be not only 
incompetent but corrupt, and against whom charges of the gravest 
character have been pressed by respectable citizens, who have as- 
sumed the responsibility of proving them if an opportunity be 
afforded, is on the part of the Collector, a serious offence against 



61 

the Administration and the public, not only justifying, but requiring 
investigation. Such charges, permit me to say, require scrutiny; 
and the community will not be satisfied, I am sure, with being told 
that they were once before the Senate without influencing that body. 

To your Excellency, for whom I have always entertained some- 
thing more than mere respect, I can speak with freedom, and with- 
out offence. I say, therefore, that the charges ought to be examined 
fully and freely, and without reference to the fact, whether they 
were investigated by the Senate or not. Fraud taints and vitiates 
the most solemn judicial acts ; and, in this case, it may be fairly 
presumed that the act of confirmation, behind which the Secretary 
of the Treasury refuses to go, was superinduced by fraud — by the 
forged circulars, purporting to have been sent by the neighbors of 
the Collector to the Senate, praying for his confirmation. In the 
act of confirmation there is nothing so sacred, either in theory or 
practice, as to require a stricter application of the rule just referred 
to than in analagous cases in other departments of the Government. 
It is charged virtually that his confirmation was brought about by 
fraud practiced by his officers, with his own consent, and that these 
officers are still retained by him. 

But I submit further, that the Senate is but a branch of the 
appointing power, and that its act of confirmation is no more 
inviolable, and precludes revision and investigation as little as the 
act of the President in nominating, [f the President, through im- 
position or mistake, appoint an unworthy man to office, he will 
remove him on proof of his unworthiness. The Senate being as 
liable to imposition and mistake in confirming as the President in 
appointing, what reason is there that its acts should not be corrected 
as well as his 1 In my judgment there is none. I cannot believe 
that it was ever^ designed, by making the Senate a part of the 
appointing power and giving to it the right of confirmation, to 
take from the President any of his powers over the officers whom 
he has appointed, or in any way to restrict him in his inquiries into 
their conduct during a particular period of their official term. Yet, 
if I understand the views of the Secretary aright, he would limit 
inquiry into their conduct to the period subsequent to their con- 
firmation. Every thing previous to confirmation, in this case at 
least, he seems to regard, to use a legal phrase, as a kind of res 
adjudicata, and no longer open to investigation. But to sum up 
all in a sentence, the act of confirmation is but a part of the act 
of appointment — not a judicial act — not a judgment precluding 
inquiry as to all that preceded it. 

There is another view relative to a part of the investigation, 
which I desire to present. It is proposed to prove, thatjMr. Lewis 
was fully aware of the character of Read, at the time he appointed 
him. This seems to be regarded as irrelevant or impertinent. I 
do not think so. In order to ascertain his motive for the retention 
of the Weighmaster in office, is it not important to show, that he 
and the collector have been known to each other for years and 



62 

participants in other fraudulent transactions'! This would not 
perhaps be evidence against Mr. Lewis, if he were on trial in a 
Court of Justice. But it is on moral evidence, on association and 
general conduct, that the community forms its judgment, and it is 
on these, that fitness for office is judged of by the appointing 
power. 

And now in conclusion, 1 beg of your Excellency to see that a 
full and fair investigation of these charges be made. Do not per- 
mit technicalities which have no foundation in justice to screen the 
guilty, nor honest men to be placed in a false position, b};- being 
denied an opportunity to prove the charges which they have pre- 
ferred, undoubtedly in good faith, and with an anxious desire to 
serve the administration, and relieve it from the odium reflected 
upon it by the conduct of its officers. These men are amongst the 
most respectable, as well as influential citizens of the community 
in which they reside, and in what they have done were actuated 
by the purest motives. They were influenced by no selfish consid- 
erations. No malignant spirit or unfriendly feelings animated 
them. They did not even volunteer. They were appointed by a 
large meeting of influential citizens, of whom in this matter they 
are the mere representatives and organs. They are not office seek- 
ers for themselves or their friends ; neither are they over zealous 
partisans, animated by a too ardent zeal. They are Whigs, active 
Whigs it is true, good, honest, upright, intelligent men, with whom 
their fellow citizens deeply sympathise, and by whom the latter 
will stand, nine tenths of them at least, result this investigation as 
it may. As the whole matter will be in your hands after the investi- 
gation has ended, however full and searching it may be, no injustice 
can be done to the accused officers. If they be innocent, they will 
not object to a full and fair inquiry. On the contrary they should 
court it. If guilty, they ought to be declared so, and removed 
from the trusts they have abused. 

Had I pursued the suggestions of my own mind, I would have 
submitted these views and requests immediately to Mr. Corwin, 
whose province it is to act on them, without troubling you on the 
subject. But by the desire of the gentlemen interested, I have 
taken the liberty of addressing myself to you ; and I am the less 
disinclined to do so, knowing that through you, Mr. Corwin will 
be put in possesion of their views and wishes, as I have herein pre- 
sented them. I send you herewith copies and extracts of letters 
on the same subject : No. 1, being a copy of a letter from Mr. 
Gibbons ; No. 2, from Mr. Dunlevy 5 No. 3, from a gentleman not 
connected with the matter, and who would be probably disobliged 
by giving his name. 

The following extract from a letter of the Committee is, in my 
judgment, so appropriate, that I cannot forbear to bring it to your 
notice. 

" We beg you that you will see the President, in whose wisdom 
and justice we have unbounded confidence, and make a last effort 



63 

to have this investigation made effectual, by allowing us a reason 
able degree of latitude in the inquiry. We suggest to you, to see 
the President in preference to Mr. Corwin, not because we have 
less confidence in his integrity and uprightness than in those of the 
President ; but because the latter is our representative, for whom 
we labored, for whom we voted, and on whom we feel that we 
have a claim, independently of that which upright motive and a 
desire to promote the welfare and honor of his adminstration gives 
us. We feel, high as his position is, that there must be some sym- 
pathy between him and us — the sympathy growing from the ardent 
wishes which we formerly entertained for liis elevation, and which 
we still feel for his success. Go to him. Tell him our situation is 
a m.ost unpleasant, nay painful one. Out of regard for the admin- 
stration, and the Whig party suffering from the conduct of the 
men in office here, we communicated to the President and Secre- 
tary information which we thought they ought to possess. With 
the same view, although involving unpleasant consequences, we 
undertook to furnish proof of the fact, which we had made known ; 
and now, unless the instructions of the Commissioner, are changed 
we will be exhibited in the light of false accusers, because the in- 
quiry is restricted within limits too narrow to allow of making 
manifest the truth. It is for this reason, to relieve us from a most 
unpleasant situation which we occupy, we conceive through no 
fault of our own, that we trouble you to make a last effort to have 
justice done in the matter. Let us be permitted to prove allj and 
then let the President and Mr. Corwin judge what is proper to be 
done. If anything improper be proved, Twhich we will try to 
avoid,) let it be rejected afterwards. The President and his Cabi- 
net are not a Petit Jury to be influenced by irrelevant or improper 
testimony. They will give such effect to it as it ought to have, 
and no more. Being permitted to attempt to prove what we have 
charged, we shall, with the fullest confidence and the utmost 
cheerfulness, submit it to Mr. Corwin to say what is right to be 
done," Sic, &,c. 

With the most sincere respect, 

I am your ob't serv't and friend, 

Signed,) JAMES COOPER. 

Too unwell to leave the house, I have been compelled to submit 
to you in writing what would have been much better explained in 
a private interview. 

(Signed,) J. C. 



64 

(No. 1.) 
MR. GIBBONS TO MR. COOPER. 

Philadelphia, Dec. 25, 1850. 
My Dear Sir : — 

How comes it that you were mistaken in regard to the modification 
of the instructions ? Your despatch on Monday, and your letter on 
Tuesday, both stated, that the instructions would be enlarged to a cer- 
tainextent. But, from the letter of Mr. Dunlevy, which I have just 
received, I learn that you were mistaken, and that he is to proceed 
under those which he brought with him. By the advice of the committee 
superintending the investigation, and of other Whig friends, I have pro- 
tested against proceeding under them. To go on would be folly. 
The truth cannot be reached, and the effect of all will be, a new cer- 
tificate of character to the Collector and Surveyor. 

We cannot understand here, why Mr. Lewis' confirmation by the 
Senate should preclude inquiry into his conduct previously. He is an 
officer, nominated by the President, and confirmed by the Senate, — 
the whole amounting only to one appointment. Cannot the conduct 
of an officer be inquired into ? and, if so, why not one period of his 
administration of his duties as well as into another ? 

The people never can be made to understand, why the act of the 
Senate in confirming, is more than the act of the President in 
appointing. The distinction taken by the Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, admitting inquiry into one period of an officer's term rather than 
into another, has no foundation in reason. The act of the Senate 
confirming an appointment does not act as an estoppel, precluding 
inquiry as to all other acts anterior to it. The power given to the 
Senate is cautionary, it is true, but never was intended to have such 
an effect as the Secretary seems to think. It was not designed to 
take from the President any of his powers over the officers whom he 
has appointed ; nor to limit him in the exercise of the duty to see the 
laws faithfully executed ; which he cannot do, if he will not inquire 
into the manner in which they have performed them. All periods of 
the official term of the functionaries of the Government are open to 
executive investigation and animadversion. 

He is not limited to the period subsequent to confirmation. 

But, if the rule of the Secretary of the Treasury be observed 
strictly, we are precluded from an inquiry into the manner in which 
the circulars were got up and signed, as well as into everything else. 
These circulai's were before the Senate, and the manner of procuring 
them a subject of inquiry. Testimony, to prove that they were forged 
and forwarded, was taken before the Mayor. But the examination 
before the Senate was partial — necessarily so. That body refused 
process to examine witnesses ; the consequence was, that we could 
not, when we attempted it, get the witnesses to testify. Some of them 
went out of the way, others were absent, and the whole attempt abor- 
tive, for want of the necessary powers. Now, we are told, that the 
examination was final — at least in its effect. 



65 

But the refusal of the Secretary to authorize a thorough investigation, 
operates most injuriously to the gentlemen who, out of respect Tor the 
administration, and to relieve the Whig party from the odium it was en- 
during from the conduct of the Custom House officers, preferred the 
charges on which the investigation was founded. In justice to them it 
ought to have been refused altogether, or pursued in such a manner as to 
give them an opportunity to prove what they charge. By limiting it, 
as has been done, nobody will be satisfied, the excitement will be in- 
creased, and the party injured. We hope, however, that, on a full 
representation to the President, he will see that the matter shall not 
be trifled with, — that the investigation shall be a thorough one. From 
the examination which I have made into the matter, I do not hesitate 
to say, that every material fact charged will l)e proved, and many 
besides. Is it not strange, (and it is C(;rtainly provoking,) that, when 
an investigation has been ordered, it should be rendered ineffectua 
by the rules prescribed for the conduct of it? 

Ho[)ing that the President will take the matter into consideration, 
and direct a full investigation, I will await your answer. 

Yours, &c., 
(Signed) CH: GIBBONS. 

The Hon. James Cooper. 



(No. 2.) 
MR. DUNLEVY TO MR. GIBBONS. 

Philadelphi.*., Dec. 25, 1850. 
Dear Sir ; — 

I have received an answer to my letter to the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and find that my instructions will pot be modified, the mat- 
ters you charge having been before ihe Senate, and fully investitmted, 
pending the question of Mr. L'wis confirmation. He directs me, 
therclbre, to proceed in the investigation with which I was originally 
charged. This I hope to commence to-morrow, and proceed with all 
possible dispatch until it is closed. Having been dirccted to call upon 
you for the names of wilntsses and other items of testimony, I can 
do little without some one to give me information of witnesses who 
know the facts. I do not know whether you withdraw from the in- 
vestigation or not, but, if you do, without any person to direct me to 
sourc-.es of testimony, the investigation, I presume, will be short and 
of little consequence. I shill first examine Mr. Brady, unless he 
objects to testify, and from him may learn who else had any agency 
in the alleged imposition pr.ictised upon the Senate of the United 
States. 

I must have copies of those circulars in your possession to which 
fictitious or forged names were sigoi d, and I presume vou will have 
no objections to leave them in the hands of Alderman Freem in, pre- 
vious to the commencement of the examinaiion. At any rale, I sliould 

5 



66 

like to see you at the office of Mr. Freeman at 10 o'clock to-morrow 
morning. 

Yours, &c., 
(Signed) A. H. DUNLEVY. 

Charlis Gibbons, Esa., 

Philadelphia. 

(No. 3.) 

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM A GENTLEMAN IN 
PHILADELPHIA TO MR. COOPER. 

Philadelphia, Bee. 25, 1850. 
My Dear Sir : — 

A good deal of feeling prevails here at present in relation 
to the investigation proposed to be made into the affairs of the 
Custom House ; and much dissatisfaction is manifested in regard 
to the instructions under which the Commissioner is to act. It 
is alleged that these instructions, if not designed, will, at least in 
effect, serve to screen the Collector and Surveyor, who, it is alleged, 
are implicated in certain malversations in office, and, in some fraud 
committed on the Senate, of the nature of which I am not particularly 
informed. I presume you know all about it. John W. Stokes, 
David Woelpper, John D. Ninesteel, and other prominent Whigs, 
made certain charges, which they offered to prove, and which, if they 
undertook to do it, I have no doubt they will accomplish, if an oppor- 
tunity be afforded them. They are not the men to undertake what 
they cannot perform. 

The administration will stand in its own light if it should interpose 
obstacles in the way of this investigation. There is great feeling on 
the subject, and an almost universal anxiety manifested that the in- 
vestigation should be prosecuted in such a manner as to elicit the 
whole truth. The Custom House set are very odious in the city, and, 
it is generally believed, that great frauds have been committed by 
them, not only in the matters referred to but likewise upon the reve- 
nue, by permitting false invoices to pass without notice. This being 
the case, the demand for an investigation is loudly called for by the 
people; and nothing but a full and searching one will satisfy them. 

If the investigation should be smothered by the instructions, a 
meeting, it is said, will be called to express the sentiments of the citi- 
zens in relation to the matter, and to petition Congress for an investi- 
gation. I think you should see Mr. Fillmore, and explain to him the 
state of feeling here. It is right that he should be apprized of it, in 
order that he may act with reference to it. Mr. Corwin is severely 
censured, on account of the instructions he has given to the Commis- 
sioner ; but I apprehend, when it comes to be understood, that it will 
be found, that the Commissioner has a reasonable discretion, and that 
he will hear all that is really pertinent to the charges. Less than 
this would be unjust to Messrs. Stokes, Woelpper, and their associates ; 
more than this would be unjust to Mr. Lewis andMr. Norris," &c., &c. 



Custom House, Philadelphia, 
Collector's Office, Feb'y 22d, 1851. 

TO MILLARD FILLMORE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 

STATES. 

Sir,— 

Having had an opportunity of examining copies of the letters 
addressed to you by Charles Gibbons, Esqr. on the 13th November, 
and the Hon'ble James Cooper on the 26th December, 1850, it 
seems to me proper that I should submit to you the following re- 
marks on their contents. I fear prolixity will be unavoidable in 
untangling their webs of calumnies. 

And first in order, as it is in date, I will notice the letter of Mr. 
Gibbons, taking each allegation separately. 

1st. He begins by a reference to the examination of Mr. Fisler, 
the first deputy Weigher, before the Mayor, in September last, a 
copy of whose deposition he forwards to you, asserting that "there 
is no difficulty now in proving that he (Fisler) '■'■swore falsely. ^^ 

2ndly. He goes on to state that he did not examine George Read 
because of his infamous character, adding, "I had reason to believe 
that he was prepared to swear to anything which the Collector 
required, without any regard whatever to the truth." 

3rdly. He states that "Read does not know the letters of the 
alphabet, swears to returns made by him to the Department with- 
out knowing what they contain : that "the money which he draws 
from the Collector's department to defray the contingent and other 
expenses of the Weigher's department, amounting," as Mr. Gibbons 
is told, "to some $20,000 a year, independent of salaries, is never 
properly accounted for," no vouchers being presented of its pay- 
ment, and that "the only evidence it is expended at all for the 
public service is his unsupported oath, which no jury of honest 
men in this county would believe." 

4thly. He states that so far as Fisler's testimony before the 
Mayor, given in my presence, "went to induce the impression that 
Read was in any respect a suitable and competent officer, Mr. 
Lewis of his own knowledge knew that it was utterly false, and in- 
tended to deceive the Senate.^'' 

5thly. He states that he understands "Mr. Lewis justifies the 
appointment of Read on the ground that he was strongly recom- 
mended by the Secretary of the Treasury;" that "Mr. Lewis had 
known him for some fifteen or twenty years;" that "in 1842 they 
both were examined, before a Committee of our Legislature, in re- 
lation to some serious charges of corruption and bribery in which 
both Avere implicated, and by means of which certain legislation 
was procured for the Bank of the United States, the Girard Bank 



68 

of which Mr. Lewis was Cashier, and some others ;" that " Read 
perjured himself, was detected, and exposed," whilst "Mr. Lewis 
was guilty only of a very defective memory ;" and that, while Mr. 
Lewis " has been sufficiently adroit to satisfy his friends here that 
he made the appointment with great reluctance to gratify Mr. 
Meredith, if the truth was known it will be found that Read had 
demanded the appointment, and Lewis gave it to prevent unpleasant 
disclosures," 

6thly. Speaking of Mr. Brady, he asserts that "he" (Brady) 
"was an active Whig when Mr. Lewis was opposed to us," and then 
passes upon Brady a faint eulogy. 

7thly. He states that " Zane prepared a draft of the affidavit 
which he proposed to make and submitted it to Mr. Lewis, who 
suggested to him that he should so modify it as to represent that 
when Read presented the Directory to Brady, and told him to copy 
the names from it, he spoke and acted in a jocose manner,'''' and 
further on Mr. Gibbons adds, "It is proper that I should say, in 
this connection, that / did not know that Zane had been applied to 
by Mr. Lewis for this affidavit until yesterday, when he called at 
my office and exhibited to me the draft which he had prepared, with 
the modifications suggested by Mr. Lewis." [I have underscored 
the above expressions, intending to ask hereafter your particular 
attention to them when I come to notice this allegation.] 

8thly. He says, "that Read acted under the instructions of Mr. 
Lewis, in procuring the fictitious names to the letters, I have not 
the slightest doubt;" and adds, "the intercourse between them 
since Read's appointment has been intimate and confidential." 

9thly. He states that "It is some consolation to know that Lewis, 
Read, Norris, and Fisler, all received their political and moral 
training in the Locofoco school;" and that "the best offices at the 
disposal of Lewis are filled with our political opponents." 

lOthly. In a note he asserts that Murray "has made an affidavit 
in relation to this matter, which is so drawn up as not to implicate 
Read, the form of which affidavit was prepared by Mr. Lewis, and 
it does not present a full statement of the facts." 

I believe the foregoing synopsis comprises all of Mr. Gibbons' 
allegations which at all concern me. — The other gentlemen whom 
he has slandered are abundantly able to defend their own reputa- 
tion against his assaults, and will doubtless do so. — Every one of 
these allegations, if true, he has had ample opportunity of proving, 
I shall answer them seriatim : 

1st. So far from proving that Mr. Fisler has sworn falsely, the 
great weight of testimony taken under the late commission is in 
favor of his having sworn to the truth. 

2ndly. Geo. Read was summoned by Mr. Gibbons as a witness 
before the Mayor, and hence his alleged pretext for not having ex- 
amined him is made with a bad grace, and seems especially un- 
founded when we see that he summoned him again as a witness, 
and actually did examine him before Mr. Dunlevy ! 



69 

3rdly. That Mr. Read is a very illiterate man has certainly 
been proved, but not to the extent asserted by Mr. Gibbons ; neither 
has my knowledge of the fact at the time of his appointment been 
proved, which knowledge I did not possess. The public posts he 
had held previously, and the extent and prosperity of his private 
business, seemed, indeed, to belie the idea. Mr. Cooper had him- 
self done so, by implication, in the strongest manner, or shown that 
he did not consider illiterateness inconsistent with entire compe- 
tency to perform important public duties. Witness the following 
statements extracted from his letters, urging Mr. Read's appoint- 
ment to office on Governor Johnston and myself. Notarial copies 
of those addressed to me, (the originals being in my hands,) and 
the originals of those addressed to Gov. Johnston, are attached to 
the commission. [The words having a particular bearing upon 
this point I shall underscore that they may attract your special 
notice.] 

In his letter to the Governor, dated Dec. 7th, 1848, Mr. Cooper 
says, "Mr. Read is honesty and entirely competent for the discharge 
of the duties of the station for which I have ventured thus earnestly 
to recommend him." That station was the highly responsible one 
of Bark Inspector for this City and County, one of the best offices 
in Governor Johnston's gift. 

In his first letter to me, dated May 10th, 1849, speaking of the 
ten persons he desired to have appointed, Mr. Cooper observes, 
"In addition to abundant qualifications^ they have rendered impor- 
tant services to the Whig party in the late and previous campaigns;" 
adding, "If I can have the naming of that number, I will endeavor 
to present such persons as will be at once deserving and competent,'''' 
and further on, in the same letter, '■'■U you should consent to this, 
I will BEGIN by naming George Read for the situation of Weigher, 
for whose appointment / am anxious.'''' 

In his second letter to me of May lOth, 1849, Mr. Cooper says, 
speaking of Mr. Read in connection with the Weigher's office, 
"He is xoell qualified to discharge the duties of the post he is 
seeking." 

But it has not been shown that Mr. Read swears to his accounts 
without knowing what they contain ; neither is it true that some 
$20,000 per annum, independent of salaries, are expended by Mr. 
Read without any voucher but his unsupported oath, the whole 
amount expended beyond such salaries never having exceeded 
$6047, in any one year, and such excess being always accounted 
for in strict conformity with Treasury instructions, and the accounts 
rendered under the supervision of my Auditor. That officer, (Dr. 
Charles Treichel,) has had twenty-seven years experience in the 
Custom House of this District, and is of well established correct- 
ness and probity. 

I may add that the proportion which the expenditures, as well 
inclusive as exclusive of the regular salaries, have borne to the 
amount of the legal fees earned in the Weigher's department here 



70 

since Mr. Read has held office, will compare favorably with those 
of any previous period, as will be seen by the annexed statement 
marked A, covering a space of six years, viz : from 1845 to 1850, 
both inclusive. 

As to the assertion of Mr. Gibbons that no jury of honest men 
in this county would believe Mr. Read on his oath, 1 pronounce it 
wilfully untrue, and declare with all sincerity that I would myself, 
after considerable knowledge of both, much sooner believe the oath 
of George Read then that of Charles Gibbons, in which opinion I 
know many of our best citizens to concur. 

4thly. My remark in regard to the first allegation of Mr. Gib- 
bons, in which he assails the testimony of Mr. Fisler, applies equally 
to the fourth. 

The weight of the testimony taken before Mr. Dunlevy is great- 
ly in favor of the truth of Mr. Fisler's statement as to the superior 
attention of Mr. Read to his duties, and his systematic mode of per- 
forming them, when compared with several of his more educated 
predecessors. 

5thly. There is no truth in the assertion that I have justified 
my appointment of Read on the ground that he was strongly re- 
commended by Mr. Meredith when Secretary of the Treasury. 
Neither is it true that 1 had known him for fifteen or twenty years, 
as will be seen by reference to the testimony of George W. South, 
who states the fact of his having introduced Mr. Read, then a stran- 
ger, to me in the Autumn of 184-8. Mr. South's language is, "Mr. 
Read told me he had no acquaintance with Mr. Lewis, and reques- 
ted me to introduce him. After we came out of Mr. Lewis' office 
Mr. Read observed to me, that he had known Mr. Lewis by sight 
for a long time, and asked me if that was the Mr. Lewis who was 
formerly Cashier of the Girard Bank, I replied that it was." 

It is equally false that in 1842 Read and I were examined before 
a Committee of the Legislature on serious charges of corruption and 
bribery, in which we '■'• were both implicated.'''' It is true that we 
were, (as appears by the record,) as were also some sixty other per- 
sons, or more, examined before a Legislative Committee in 1842 
in regard to previous legislation concerning the Banks of Pennsyl- 
vania, but we were not even in Harrisburg at the same time, and 
were then, and for years afterwards, entire strangers to each other. 
It is also true that my memory, which Mr. Gibbons says was " very 
defective," did not retain facts that had never occurred, and that 
when interrogated as to matters which were said to have taken place 
some six years previously, but which in fact never had taken place, 
so far as related to me, I replied that I had no recollection of them. 
Neither would their actual occurrence have proved anything crimi- 
nal on my part. As to the assertion of the Committee of the Le- 
gislature, quoted by Mr. Gibbons, that Mr. Read was " self convic- 
ted of fraud and perjury," I only know that, never having read their 
Report, nor the Testimony, when I found Mr. Read's character for 
integriity and capacity so strongly vouched for by Mr. Cooper, and 



71 

other respectable persons, such a charge, made six years before, 
was not likely to make any impression on my mind. Mr. Cooper 
had been a member of the Legislature in 1844 and at subsequent 
periods, and was more likely to set a just estimate on the charge of 
perjury against Mr. Head, made in 1842 by a committee of that 
body acting under high political excitement, than myself, and yet 
Mr. Cooper urged his appointment as altogether expedient and pro- 
per, reiteratedly, and in the strongest terms, as I have already shown. 
The averment that "Read had demanded the appointment, and 
Lewis gave it to prevent impleasant disclosures," is an atrocious 
falsehood. 

6thly. The assertion that I have been at any time opposed to the 
Whig party is equally untrue. I have always been a Whig, and a 
consistent one, sincerely believing the doctrines we profess to em- 
body those principles best calculated to advance the true interests 
of the country, and having done all in my power to promote their 
success. In my capacity of Whig, I lament to say that I once aid- 
ed in electing Mr. Gibbons, who professed to be one, to the Senate 
of this State, where, in violation of the loudly expressed wishes of 
his constituents, he proved a traitor to their interests as is generally 
believed to promote his oum, by opposing a measure essential to this 
city's welfare, and thus earning a vote of condemnation which 
was passed upon him with a degree of unanimity unparaleled in 
this community, the odium of which will adhere to him through 
life. I was a Whig, when Mr. Cooper, the present ultra of the 
party, was the editor of an opposition newspaper, published at Get- 
tysburg in 1835, soon after he crossed our borders, and when he sub- 
sequently openly electioneered in Adams County against the Whig 
ticket. My Whig principles were entertained, and avowed too, 
under circumstances calculated to test their sincerity. For the 
proof of this fact I venture to appeal to Chief Justice Taney and 
Judge Woodbur}', of the Supreme Court of the United States, each 
of whom was at the head of the Treasury Department, under a 
Democratic Adminstration, when I was the Whig Cashier of the 
Girard Bank, then a depository of the public monies in this city. 
They will say whether my sentiments, as to what I deemed the true 
policy of the country, were ever withheld or concealed from them. 
Nor does proof of this fact depend on tradition only. It will be 
found recorded in my testimony given, in February 1837, before a 
Committee of the House of Representatives, of which the Hon. J. 
Garland was Chairman. On that occasion, as will be seen by re- 
ference to the report of that Committee, I expressed my opinion of 
the removal of the deposits from the Bank of the United States in 
strict accordance with the Whig doctrine of the day, although the 
institution with which I was connected held about four millions of 
the public monies at that very time. 

7thly. The allegations under this head I shall meet by references 
to the testimony of Joel Zane, one of Mr. Gibbons' witnesses. 

In reply to the question put by Mr. Gibbons, " at whose instance 



72 

were the words "m a jocose manner^'' in exhibit No 4, inserted!" 
Mr. Zane replied, " In a conversation with Mr. Lewis he asked me 
whether I thought Mr. Read was really in earnest when he handed 
the Directory to Mr. Brady." This is the sole ground on which 
Mr. Gibbons asserts that I had '■'■suggested to Zane that he should so 
modify his affidavit as to represent that, when Read presented the 
Directory to Brady and told him to copy the names from it, he 
spoke and acted in a jocose manner.^'' 

In a subsequent part of his testimony, on his cross examination, 
Zane states, " When called upon by Mr. Lewis to make an affidavit, 
I waited upon Mr. Gibbons for the purpose of consulting with him, 
and asking his advice as to the propriety of making an affidavit. 
He advised me to make an affidavit^'''' Sfc. ; and yet Mr. Gibbons, 
writing to the President of the United States, asserts deliberately 
that he did not know that Zane had been applied to by me for an 
affidavit till Zane called on him and " exhibited the draft which he 
had prepared^ It must be for others to determine which of these 
statements is true 5 both cannot be. 

Nor is it, perhaps, out of place here to allude to the fact that 
while Zane states in his testimony that he had accompanied Brady 
to Mr. Gibbons to consult " on matters connected with this dispute 
in the Custom House," he supposed "twenty times," Brady states, in 
his testimony, that he does not remember any body going with him 
to Mr. Gibbons' office. He further states, " I have met Mr, Zane at 
Mr. Gibbons', but had no conversation with Mr. Zane in Mr. Gib- 
bons' office. I dont know Mr. Zane's business with Mr. Gibbons : 
I dont know whether he knew mine." 

Witnesses like these would certainly find in Mr. Gibbons a most 
fitting counsel ! 

8thly. I am quite certain that Mr. Gibbons does not, and never 
did, believe as he asserts, that Read had acted under my instruc- 
tions in procuring fictitious names to the letters, even if it were 
admitted that he had procured such names. The imputation is 
grossly calummous and false ; nor is it true, as Mr. Gibbons asserts, 
that since Read's appointment there has been any " intimate and 
confidential intercourse between us," certainly none inappropriate 
to our respective official stations. 

9thly. The first branch of this specification has been answered, 
so far as I am concerned, under the sixth specification above. As 
to the allegation that "the best offices at the disposal of Lewis are 
filled with our political opponents," it is not true. It is true that I 
have refused to disorganize my office by making wholesale removals, 
and that, having allowed myself to be influenced by other, and what 
seemed to me proper, considerations, I have retained a small number 
of experienced and meritorious officers whom I found in place when 
I assumed the duties of my present post ; and for the retention of 
whom I have ample Whig support here and elsewhere. But when 
I state that of about one hundred and sixty offices, great and small, 
within the gift of the Collector here, subject to the approval of the 



73 

Secretary of the Treasury, I have removed the incumbents of one 
hundred and thirty of them, replacing them by friends of the pre- 
sent National Administration, I trust it will be thought that I have 
been sufficiently proscriptive to screen me from the charge of being 
a Locofoco. 

lOthly. As a reply to this allegation, I refer to the following 
passage in Mr. Murray's testimony, on his cross-examination, in 
reference to his affidavit of the 8th November last. 

Question. When you called upon him, ("Mr. Lewis,") did he 
attempt to exercise any control over you at all % 

Answer. No, Sir. 

QuEs. Didn't he make the alterations you suggested with his 
own hand, and enjoin it upon you at the same time to be correct 1 

Ans, He made the alterations with his own hand, and requested 
me to state nothing but what I could swear to. 

QuEs. Was the second paper written from your dictation, 
which was signed by you 1 

Ans. It was written from the conversation I had with Mr. 
Lewis at the Custom House. 

QuES. And did you believe it then, and do you believe it now, 
to be a substantial statement of what you said 1 

Ans. I of course believe the truth of that affidavit. I believe 
it to be a substantial statement of what was said by me to Mr. 
Lewis at the time. 

************* 

And on his re-examination by Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Murray re- 
iterates : 

" I wish to be understood to say that the affidavit is the substance 
of the conversation held with Mr. Lewis." 

These answers, I think, meet every calumnious aspersion con- 
tained in the letter of Mr. Gibbons above specified, and I trust 
they will be found satisfactory. 

Having, however, thus shown the intimate connection of the 
letter in question with the origin of the commission that has been 
recently executed here, I must beg leave to quote from Mr Gibbons' 
statement to the Commissioner, when called on by me to produce 
that letter, the following words which will be found on the records 
of the commission : "Mr. Lewis may as well claim to put his hand 
in my pocket and search its contents, as to call upon me to produce 
my private correspondence which has no connection whatever with 
this commission." Such a letter as that of the 13th Nov. 1850, 
addressed to the President of the United States, relating to a public 
officer, holding his commission under that President, and revocable 
at his will, a private letter ! the letter which formed the very 
basis of the commission, said by the writer, Mr. Gibbons, to have 
NO connection with it ! ! ! 



74 

I now come to the allegations of Mr. Cooper, contained in his let- 
ter of the 26th December, covering the charges signed by D. Woelp- 
per and others ; and will here premise that I do not propose to no- 
tice such of them as are mere iterations of the averments of Mr. Gib- 
bons which have already been refuted. 

Having in my " Narrative " which accompanies the testimony, 
and to which I ask leave to direct your particular attention, entered 
at considerable length into the conduct and motives of Mr. Cooper 
in his opposition to me, I find few allegations in his epistle which 
have not already been answered. Those few I will dispatch with 
due brevity. 

The chief charge against me, upon which the whole of the late 
proceedings were based, that 1 had imposed on the Senate by forged 
representations of my integrity and fitness, and employed my sub- 
ordinate officers to fabricate these representations, is so absurd, as 
well as disgraceful, that I have been scarcely able to bring myself 
to think that I could condescend to deny it without dishonor, inas- 
much as to deny might seem, by implication, to admit the possibili- 
ty of its truth ! And yet 1 find it necessary, in my present position, 
to assure you that it is a most foul and infamous calumny, and that 
1 solemnly believe there is not a single individual who is acquainted 
with me, however base he may be, not even Mr. Cooper nor Mr. 
Gibbons, that believes or ever did believe it to be true. Among the 
documents appended to my " Narrative," are copies of letters ad- 
dressed on my behalf to President Taylor by some of our most dis- 
tinguished citizens, and of memorials to the Senate asking my con- 
firmation, signed by nearly three hundred of the principal business 
firms of this city, comprising more than five hundred individuals, of 
the highest respectability, the originals of which are on file in the 
Treasury Department, and among the records of the Senate. The 
genuineness of these documents, for which I hold myself responsible, 
Mr. Cooper has not attempted to call in question. To suppose that 
a person thus honored with the spontaneous support of the largest 
and best portion of his own party, as well as of the whole communi- 
ty in which he resides, and has resided, engaged in private and pub- 
lic employments in the full view of his fellow-citizens, for more than 
a quarter of a century, would have had recourse to the shallow and 
unprincipled scheme for gaining strength in the Senate, where he 
was well known, to which Messrs. Cooper and Gibbons pretend to 
believe that 1 resorted, is indicative of a degree of weakness and 
depravity which, notwithstanding all that has occurred, I can scarce- 
ly ascribe to them. The attempt to impose upon you a belief so- 
foreign from the truth, which they do not themselves entertain, is in- 
dicative, if possible, of a still greater degree of imbecility and wick 
edness, to say nothing of the insult offered to the Senate by the sup- 
position that its members were so stolid as to have been made the 
dupes of such a miserable contrivance ! 

Mr. Cooper says, " In this matter I have taken no part beyond re- 



75 

presenting to your Excellency and the Secretary of the Treasury 
the wishes of the respectable gentlemen who have moved in the mat- 
ter, and who are my constituents." " These men," he adds, mean- 
ing those who signed the formal charges against me, prepared by Mr. 
Gibbons and brought by Mr. Cooper to your notice, viz: David 
Woelpper, Thomas Helm, J. W. Stokes, Matthias Myers, and J. D. 
Ninesteel, "are amongst the most respectable as well as inlluential 
" members of the community in which they reside, and in what they 
"have done were actuated by the purest motives. They were in- 
"fluenced by no selfish considerations ; no malignant spirit or un- 
" friendly feelings animated them. They did not even volunteer. 
"They were appointed by a large meeting of influential citizens, of 
" whom, in this matter, they are the mere representatives and organs. 
"They are not office-seekers for themselves or their friends, &c." 

I doubt whether a greater number of falsehoods than are contain- 
ed in the above paragraph were ever compressed in so small a num- 
ber of words. Mr. Cooper, so far from having " taken no part in 
this matter " other than he has stated, which matter w^as neither 
more nor less than the effort to destroy me, strove assiduously, with 
his whole official influence, from the day I was nominated to the 
Senate till the day I was confirmed, to defeat my confirmation. 
And, notwithstanding his signal failure to accomplish that result, he 
has still busied himself in laboring against me, using the most dis- 
creditable means to vilify my character, in the hope thereby to de- 
prive me of office. Yet this person has the hardihood to say that he 
has taken no part in this matter, other than to bring to your notice 
charges which he had previously brought before the Senate, and 
which, in spite of all his efforts to sustain them, had been scouted 
by that body ! 

The signers of the paper he submitted to you are well enough in 
their sphere of life, though by no means "amongst the most respec- 
table as well as influential citizens in the community in W'hich they 
reside." Some of them, I presume, lent their names on this occa- 
sion to oblige Mr. Cooper and Mr. Gibbons, by whom they were 
doubtless made to believe that, if they would do so, witnesses would 
be procured to swear to the truth of the charges against me. The 
converse of all the other allegations just quoted is the truth. One 
of the signers, in fact, held office under me on a temporary appoint- 
ment for a short time, and attempted, by threats, to coerce me to 
keep him permanently, after he had already been kept perhaps lon- 
ger than in strictness he should have been ; he subsequently swore 
that more than half the time he received pay he was entirely idle, 
and yet he wished me to continue to pay him for services which he 
did not render, and would, doubtless, have lauded me as a most 
meritorious officer, if I had been willing to defraud the government 
and put its money into his pocket ! So much for the purity and 
disinterestedness of these nominal prosecutors ! 

Then, as to their being " the mere organs of a large meeting of 



76 

influential citizens ;" on reference to Mr. Brady's testimony in the 
Dunlevy Commission, you will perceive that this meeting, held in 
an upper room of one of our small public houses, was called by Bra- 
dy himself, by means of printed notices prepared by said Brady and 
signed by him with the names of some six or seven persons, without 
their authority! 

There is one thing, however. In Mr, Cooper's letter not yet ad- 
verted to, which I must not pass over without notice. It is the fact 
of a Senator sending to the Executive head of the government, in 
support of his own slanders against a fellow-citizen holding an office 
of trust and honor, a copy of an anonymous letter endorsing those 
slanders, and even adding to them others equally unfounded and 
base j the Senator stating, as his reason for so doing, that " the gen- 
tleman would probably be disobliged by giving his name." Was 
there ever anything so monstrous \ We are fallen on evil times in- 
deed, when a Senator of the United States can become a party to 
such a proceeding as this ! 

I sincerely regret the necessity 1 have felt myself under of tres- 
passing so much upon the valuable time of the head of this great 
nation in a matter which may be deemed in one sense purely per- 
sonal. In another, however, the case assumes a graver aspect. Not 
individual, only, but national honor is involved in the issue. The 
integrity of an officer holding an important commission under you 
is wantonly and unjustly assailed by a member of a co-ordinate 
branch of the Executive government, representing in part the so- 
vereignty of one of the greatest of the States. But the officer as- 
sailed is a citizen of the same State, and claims under our constitu- 
tion equal rights with the highest. Under that blessed instrument 
the innocent, however weak, is shielded from oppression, and can- 
not be stricken down unjustly by the hand of power ; but he may 
be shamefully wronged, and find no adequate redress. Such 
has been my case. Without having been guilty of any other offence 
than resisting the undue encroachment of Mr. Cooper upon my of- 
ficial prerogatives, I have been, for nearly two years, the object of 
his incessant and malignant hostility. He has made himself the ral- 
lying point of all the disaffected on whom I did not bestow office ; 
has propagated, and in some Instances invented, the most disparag- 
ing calumnies, and even accused me of the basest crimes, with- 
out the shadow of proof to sustain his accusations. However 
often he is defeated and disgraced in his endeavors, by such unwor- 
thy means, to compass my ruin, after every discomfiture he renews 
the assault, in some other form, with fresh zeal, so that but for a clear 
conscience, and a robust constitution accustomed to great endur- 
ance of labor, the time required to guard and defend my character 
would not have left sufficient at my disposal for the discharge of my 
official duties. 

1 am far from complaining, sir, of the course taken by you in or- 
dering the recent investigation. On the contrary, I thank you for 



77 

having done so. But it was due to my own honor that 1 should 
make known the facts contained in this communication, and thus 
lay bare to your view the flagitious falsehoods concerning me, re- 
presented to you an truths by Senator Cooper and Mr. Gibbons, on 
which your action in instituting that investigation was based. 

The total failure of the testimony taken before Mr. Dunlevy to 
prove any of the charges against me will be manifest to you on its 
perusal. I trust you will find time at an early day to give it a tho- 
rough examination, so that your decision upon it may soon be made 
known. 

Feeling entire confidence that your unblemished honor and en- 
lightened judgment will guide you to a just conclusion, and in the 
entire absence of all fear of the result, 
1 have the honor to be 

Your friend and fellow-citizen, 

WM. D. LEWIS, 
Collector of the Customs. 



(A.) 

Statement referred to in the foregoing Letter. 

Comparative Statement of the Legal Fees and Expenses of the Weighing De- 
partment of the Port of Philadelphia during the Years 1845, 1846, 1847, 
1848, 1849, and 1850. 









Expenses 


Total Ex- 










exclusive 


penses of 


Surplus 


YEARS. 


FEES. 


Salaries. 


of 
Salaries. 


Depart- 
ment. 


Fees. 


Dolls. 


Cts. 


Dolls. 


Cts. 


Dolls. 


Cts. 


Dolls. 


Cts. 


Dolls. 


Cts. 


1845 


9,726 


26 


8,600 


00 


663 


91 


9,263 


91 


462 


35 


1846 


10,413 


36 


8,600 


00 


563 


07 


9,163 


97 


1,249 


69 


1847 


15,052 


43 


8,600 


00 


2,651 


49 


11,251 


49 


3,800 


94 


1848 


17,104 07 


8,600 00 


3,761 


71 


12,361 


71 


4,742 


36 


1849 


18,553 


44 


8,600 00 


4,738 


30 


13,338 


30 


5.215 


14 


1850 


22,832 


43 


1 '8,860 00 


6,047 


54 


14,907 


54 


7,924 


89 



* This year a permanent Messenger and Watchman was attached to the of- 
fice at $5 per week. 

By the above table it will be seen that the expenses have been 
in the years named, in the following proportion to the amount of 
fees earned, viz : 

Showing a reduction in the ratio 
of 1849, below the lowest of any 
previous year, of 38-100 of one per 
cent., and in 1850, of 6.97-100 per 
cent. 



1845 percent. 95.25-100) 

1846 « 88 
74.75-100 
72.27-100 
71.89-100 I 
65.30-100 j 



1847 

1848 
1849 
1850 



NOTE. 



Not one of Mr. Gibbons' witnesses having given the slightest 
justification for the belief he has pretended to entertain, that the 
Collector had required his subordinates to append fictitious names 
to printed '■'■Circulars,'''' addressed to Whig Senators in favor of his 
confirmation, or had any knowledge of its being done ; and that 
the Surveyor had forwarded them to such Senators knowing the 
names to be fictitious, it may seem supererogatory to make any fur- 
ther allusion to those charges. Nevertheless, there are some circum- 
stances having a bearing on them, not yet referred to, which it may 
be well to notice before taking a final leave, as it is now proposed 
to do, of the whole subject. 

And, first, it is a remarkable fact that no proof whatever was 
offered by Mr. Gibbons, in the course of the investigation, to show 
that a Circular, subscribed with fictitious names, had been received 
by any Senator! Not one of them was traced either to the Custom 
House or to the Senate Chamber. 

It is also remarkable that of the vast numbers of such papers 
alleged by Mr. Brady to have been so signed, but six purporting to 
be such were produced, and that the only witnesses who swear to 
fictitious names having been signed, Brady and Zane, (both of whom 
had previously denied their having signed any names without 
authority) remember and identify certain of those fictitious names 
on the papers produced as having been written by themselves ; and 
this, notwithstanding their having, as they state, disguised their 
handwriting when they signed them ! To be sure, they say they 
had seen the papers in Mr. Gibbons' office before they were ex- 
hibited to them on their examination ! Where were they manu- 
factured 1 

It is likewise a remarkable fact, and perhaps the most remarkable 
of all, that, although there were twenty-five Whig Senators in Con- 
gress, of the six papers exhibited by Mr. Gibbons, and which he 
said were the same papers that had been sent by Mr. Cooper for 
the purposes of the examination before the Mayor, two bear no ad- 
dress at all, while four of them were apparently addressed to the 



NOTE. 

same Senator, he being a member of the Committee on Commerce, 
which Committee, in spite of Mr. Cooper's efforts to make them 
believe in these frauds, reported unanimously in favor of the Col- 
lector's confirmation ! The forged papers may or may not have 
been sent to Senators. It has certainly not been proved that they 
were. It is not pretended that they were sent to more than one 
Senator, nor has it been proved that he received them. 

Wounded pride; pecuniary interest; anxiety to succeed in their 
unworthy schemes to gain personal advancement and political 
power ; the desire of revenge for deserved defeat ; all these mo- 
tives have united to influence the little minds that have been striving 
to break the Collector down. They have all failed, as must always 
fail of success, when honestly confronted, such ignoble passions 
the weapons of ignoble men ! 



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